The 110th Innocence
by Velvet Kordonne
Summary: A shooting star lands in Europe and, in the same night, Exorcist Star Johannes, a golem, and two Finders arrive at the European Branch of the Black Order. "Miranda, when the time comes, don't use the Time Record. It won't work because your Innocence can't save me." [Rating will be changed back to M even though only the pairing later in the story requires that rating.]
1. Ghost

**This story is written like a light novel, not a flash fiction. It is written from the prospective of the OC. If you don't like that, don't read it.**

 **-Velvet  
**

* * *

Finder Jump located his charge in the dining hall, of course. As he approached, Exorcist Star Johannes looked up from the report and dishes spread in front of her and smiled. She was short, curvy, and plump. Brown eyes, a pretty face, and Cupid's bow mouth.

"Hi, Jump." Star looked around but Jump was alone. "Aren't Mahoja and Gaia with you?"

"They're getting the details of your stay here. As well as the details of your meeting with Chief Komui." Jump started to sit across from her only to notice small mountains of bowls and plates stacked there. Wherever there wasn't one of the reports on recent Exorcist activity spread in front of her there was a dish or collection of dishes nearly cleaned of whatever food they had contained.

"Did you really eat all of that?"

"You know I did," Star said. "My Innocence is a parasitic type after all."

Jump laughed nervously as Star picked up a pair of chop sticks and plucked up a piece of gyoza from a nearby saucer. "Girl Exorcists with parasitic types must make all the boys very nervous about whether she'll watch her figure."

Star snapped the chopsticks like twigs, face darkening.

"Hanh?! You say somethin'?" Little bits of food flew out of her mouth as she shouted at him.

Jump shrank back a little, holding up his hands. "Nothing, nothing at all." _Teasing Star might be dangerous,_ he thought. Jump stopped kidding around and sat beside her. He leaned over and read the title of the report she was reviewing. "Ah. The Ghost of Mater case. Not surprised to see you reviewing that one."

Calm again, Star said, "I've got a lot to catch up on and not a lot of time to do it. A hundred years is a long time to be asleep, you know."

"But technically don't you already know?"

"Sort of but it's all a little hazy…. So I'm playing catchup."

Jump scanned the titles of the open folders and papers.

"A lot of these reports are about Allen Walker's fieldwork." Jump waggled his auburn eyebrows at her. "Are you doing all this reading because you're secretly interested in him? You know, 'like that'."

Star stretched then smoothed her custom Black Order uniform. The big puffy sleeves trailed with mantle-like banners from her shoulders down her back but the body of the jacket with its standing collar was fitted, short, and trimmed in red. Adorned like any other Exorcist uniform, it covered a black halter top underneath. She wore matching black tights, embroidered pumps and a stretchy but fitted mid-thigh length black skirt that was also embroidered in a thick flourishing red design from hip to hem.

Star replied, "Who isn't interested in him around here. The boy Hevlaska prophesied as the 'Destroyer of Time'. Yes, I'm deeply interested in knowing what that's all about. Though I'm certain we won't know until the Creator is ready to show us."

Jump stared a little then smiled. Star's earnest candor never ceased to surprise him.

"Do you think Allen did the right thing in Mater? I heard Kanda was completely against allowing Lala to keep the Innocence that served as her heart and fused with her. He and Allen even fought over the matter."

Star laced her fingers. "I agree with Allen. He definitely did the right thing. He honored Lala and Guzol's bond. What's the point of saving humanity if you destroy bonds like that in the process, you know."

"You and Allen are both very kind people," Jump said softly.

Star blushed and stood up abruptly. "Jeryy has some red raspberry tea and something gelato-like for dessert I bet."

Looking at the food-crusted, empty dishes crowding the table, Jump thought, _Haven't you had enough? This is a lot, even for me..._ Instead he asked, "Should you eat hot and cold things at the same time?"

"Meh, I'll just drink the tea first," Star shrugged. "Or warm myself up with the tea after the gelato… Man, maybe you're right…"

As Star collected the scattered confidential reports and stacked them, a Finder with a purple bandanna tied around the lower half of her face walked up to them. The hood of her cream-colored uniform jacket was up but small, thick gold hoop rings could be seen piercing her earlobes.

"There you are," Mahoja said. Gaia, Star's golem, flew around her head. Gaia was round, deep gold, and bore flashy wings, each feather a color of the rainbow.

Laughing outright at the table piled in dishes, Mahoja added, "I see you found the dining hall."

Star patted her slightly rounded, very satisfied belly.

"My stomach never leads me astray. And what's more, unlike at home, I can eat as much as I want here."

"And not keep a single pound which is the only reason you eat so much when you're here."

"Not true. I also enjoy it, second. And, third, my Innocence requires it." Star stuck her nose in the air.

"True. In any event, Chief Komui is waiting for you."

As they walked, Mahoja reached over and pulled the edge of the top folder open in Star's arms.

"Mater huh."

"Yeah, we were just talking about it," Jump said.

"I'm glad that Toma at least made it out of that alive. He's a very sensible Finder." The Black Order headquarters was a cross between a cathedral, a castle, a lab, a dormitory, and a government building. All sanctuary, research, officialness, and security. Mahoja led them down stately, open corridors. "The Chief is this way."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Y'all know _D. Gray-Man_ is the property of Katsura Hoshino and her producers/publishers. I do not own nor did I create any of the established characters, places, objects, etc. featured in this work. This literature is a work of pure fanfiction. **

**I would say that this story takes place between the end of the 2006 _D. Gray-Man_ anime and before the Cross Marian situation in _Hallow,_ considering that I'm seeing red and black uniforms in my head. Assuming Allen Walker spent some time at the new European Branch headquarters. **

**Also, I'd rather not spend too much time assuming what Katsura Hoshino's characters would or would not say and do, which is why my fanfiction work will center largely around OC ("original character" inserts), characters of my own creation that are written in as part of the _D. Gray-Man_ universe.**


	2. Komui Fails, Star's Persuasion

"It's nice to meet you, Exorcist Johannes." Tall, lean with dark hair that curled at the ends, and dressed in the white uniform of the Order's ranking operations personnel, Chief Komui smiled cheerily. "Central informed us you'd be arriving. Now let's have a look at that Innocence."

Gaia flapping around anxiously above their heads, Jump and Mahoja goggled in panic from a nearby corner as Chief Komui whipped out a big drilling tool of some sort. He approached Star, who was sitting on the lab's examination table.

Outside in the hall, waiting for the screams to start from inside, Allen Walker, Lenalee Lee, Lavi, and Arystar Krory peered into the Chief's examination room.

"He's at it again," Krory said. He put a hand over his mouth and shuddered. "Oh...my teeth still haven't forgotten my own arrival at Headquarters…"

Allen winced, saying, "Your brother has got to be stopped, Lenalee. Should we go in?"

"Where is Star Johannes' Innocence anyway?" Lenalee pondered. "She can't be an equipment type, can she. It doesn't look like she's carrying anything containing the Innocence…"

Inside the examination room-

Leaning back on one hand with her legs crossed, the Order's newest Exorcist said coolly, "You can call me Star. And just what do you think you're going to do to me with that _thing_ , Chief Komui?" Eyebrow cocked, the look on Star's face was both erotic and terrifying. So much so that Komui froze and edged backwards, blushing and chuckling nervously, a conspicuous sweat drop on his brow. "You planning to 'drill' my Innocence or something, sir?"

Komui's blush deepened. "I'll examine your Innocence at a later time, shall I." Komui put his horrid lab instrument away and gestured her out the door. "To Hevlaska then?"

"I'd love to." Star uncrossed her legs and hopped off the examination table.

The hall outside was filled with stunned choking sounds.

"He didn't do anything to her!" Krory said in utter disbelief.

"Amazing!" Allen cried. The Exorcist with the scarred and cursed left eye and an anti-Akuma weapon for a left arm. White-haired, gray-silver eyed, and dressed in the Exorcist's black uniform, Allen Walker was nowhere near as short as he was rumored. _Looks pretty average height for a boy to me but, then again, I don't discriminate and I'm shorter than he is,_ Star thought, laughing inwardly.

As she, Mahoja, Jump, and Gaia came out of the exam room, Allen darted in front of Star and said desperately, "Tell us your secret, please!"

"Allen Walker. What a pleasant surprise," Star said. Remembering the report and rumors about his actions in Mater, she really was happy to meet someone like him in person.

"Chief Komui didn't lay a finger on you, how did you do it? We have to know!" Krory said.

Kro was a gaunt and tall young man with sharp features and a strip of white that fell down the center of his forehead in a curling lock from his otherwise dark hair. His parasitic Innocence gave him a sharper, more frightening appearance when he used his razor fangs to suck the blood of Akumas and infect them with its light, but otherwise he had a very kind face and kind eyes.

As to their inquiries, Star smiled and sparkled with sainthood and enlightenment.

"Make the Chief feel uncomfortable enough that he won't dare to touch you with his nasty contraptions."

"I think only you can do that," Lavi said. "Did you see the way he was blushing?"

"And scared," Lenalee added.

"Ah, Lavi, also nice to meet you," Star said. "Are you saying you noticed my sex appeal?"

"You're not really my type." Handsome and as mysterious as his changeable attitudes, Lavi was a ginger-haired boy with an eye patch, a bandanna folded around his head, and a mallet-like iron hammer for an anti-Akuma weapon that he carried in a holster on his leg.

Star shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose someone slender like Lenalee here is more to your standard. And, by the way, I didn't ask if I was. Your type, that is."

Lavi grinned. "Ouch."

"I'm not your type, right. So it shouldn't matter what I think of you." Star grabbed Lavi's head and pulled him into her ample bosom, rubbing his face around in them. "But I can't be so bad, eh, Lavi? What's a few pounds between lovers." She laughed boisterously, releasing him.

Lavi stammered, blushing brightly, and straightened his bandanna.

Turning to Lenalee, Star stuck out her hand. "I'm happy to meet you, Lenalee."

Lenalee was a lithe, dark-haired girl. Sensible, caring towards her friends and family of the Order, and a very skilled Exorcist. Displayed by her uniform jacket that was just long enough and frilled at the bottom to look like a short skirt, Lenalee also had a beautiful pair of legs that had been destined for Innocence, namely the Dark Boots. "Likewise, Miss Johannes," Lenalee smiled and shook her hand. "My brother told me a little about you before you arrived."

Picking up the good old conversation-and-congeniality ball, Star said, "Star, please. And may I call you Lenalee?"

"Of course, Star." With Lenalee's warm and open smile, Star knew who was in charge of hospitality around here.

Looking just a little disappointed, Komui appeared from the exam room and clapped his hands.

"It seems you've done your homework on us, Star. The rest of the official introductions can wait until later. Please follow me."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Finder Mahoja is named for Anita's servant in** ** _D. Gray-Man_** **. I liked Mahoja and her physique, I thought she was strong, honorable, and beautiful even though she didn't get much screen time in the anime.**

 **Do I need to describe main characters like Allen, Komui, Lavi, Krory, and Lenalee? I decided to not to make too huge a deal of it, seeing as how if people are reading this as fans, they should already know who the established characters are and what they look like.**


	3. Hevlaska's Prophecy

They traversed the corridors and floors to Hevlaska's chamber. Of course, the room had to be large enough to house a serpentine, fifty-one-foot-tall, luminescent Exorcist so they took an elevator platform to the level. Here, five silhouettes observed from a spotlit alcove.

Gazing up at the mysterious and silent figures, Star leaned into Komui and whispered-

"Are they really the Great Generals?"

"Yes, they are," Komui said. "But there's no reason to be nervous. It's not an inquisition."

Star waved her hands frantically in front of her body. "I don't see why they'd go through the same formalities for me. I'm just a big nobody!" For an instant, she felt nervous in the presence of the Great Generals. Like any other newly recruited Exorcist would.

A woman's voice came from high above everyone's heads.

"Hello, Star Johannes. I am Hevlaska. Please…show me your Innocence."

Suddenly, Star was lifted into the air by several big ghostly, hairlike tendrils. She was raised slowly into the face of Hevlaska, a century old Exorcist whose entire body had been altered by her parasitic Innocence.

Star looked back down at Lenalee, Allen, and the others. None of them batted an eyelash. Calmed by their reaction, and knowing there was nothing to fear, Star faced Hevlaska and closed her eyes, holding still obediently as she was examined by her senior Exorcist. More tendrils from Hevlaska's body touched various parts of her, the points of contact shining in reaction.

"This Innocence…is strange," Hevlaska said. "Powerful, of course, yet I only sense a faint resonation to the Innocence inside of my body...Synchronization rate: 10%…40%…75%…." Hevlaska gasped. "The synchronization rate of this Innocence and it's Accommodator is 100%."

Star heard shocked exclamations from below.

"What?"

"No way!"

When Star looked at her Finders, there was no reaction at all. They watched on, not even mildly surprised.

"Incredible. Is there something else, Hevlaska?" Komui called up to her. "What do you see?"

Hevlaska said, "Star Johannes, you are the Centennial Eve…the Slayer of Hoards. The…" She paused, seeming confused then saddened. "The Vanishing Sun."

"Interesting," Star said. She gently touched one of the tendrils wrapped around her body and Hevlaska seemed to look at her. "But let's not worry everybody. It can't mean anything too bad, right."

"Perhaps, Star Johannes," Hevlaska replied but still worry and sadness radiated from her.

After she was lowered back onto the platform below, the Exorcists crowded around her.

"Are you a secret plant for a new General or something?!"

"Probably not," Star laughed lightly, giving an embarrassed grin.

"100% synchro-rate, huh," Lavi put a hand to his ginger hair.

"Pretty impressive, I know." But I'm just a regular Exorcist, Star almost added. Almost. _But that's not true, is it. I'm a special Exorcist but they don't need to know that._

"What is your Innocence, Star?" Krory asked.

Star merely winked at them.

"All in due time, my friends. All in due time."

One of the Great Generals spoke, a voice that resounded in the chamber.

"You are indeed an exceptional Exorcist, Star Johannes. What is expected of you is a duty and act in the Grace of God that only you can perform. Everything has been been prepared for you. Go forth and serve our world well." The light on on the Great Generals' alcove extinguished and they vanished in the darkness left behind.

* * *

It turned into a pretty large group as they picked up more people on their way from Hevlaska's. Star found that everyone was pretty friendly and curious about her.

Beside Star, Jump teased quietly during a lull in conversation, "Well you certainly are popular, Exorcist Johannes."

"Not for long, she replied. "Once I finish here—"

An Exorcist with a high, long ponytail carrying a sword-a tall and beautiful young man-strode down the corridor towards the dining hall.  
Mahoja and Jump stopped cold as they spotted him.

"Star, don't do it," Mahoja warned.

"Please don't," Jump said in tone that suggested he already knew his pleading was in vain.

Star's eyes gleamed maniacally and she gave a low, evil, mischievous laugh.

"I have to." Putting on a bright, happy smile, she raised her hand, waved openly (just as Lavi was opening his mouth to steal her moment), and she called out airily and loudly-

"Yu! Yu, darling!"

Yu Kanda's brow immediately pinched in fury. He stopped and then backtracked, facing Star.

"Who the hell are you?" He menacingly gripped the the hilt of his sword. "And you'd better not call me that again unless you want to meet a premature end delivered by my Mugen."

"Death threats right off the bat," Jump muttered somewhere behind Star. "He must in a particularly bad mood."

"Threatening to kill a lady," Star tittered, fluttering her eyelashes at him. In a lower voice though she knew Kanda could still hear her, she said, "You truly do lack in manners. And Miss Hoshino did say you weren't that smart…"

"What? You wanna say that again," Kanda said threateningly.

"At least you're pretty though." Ignoring his attitude, Star sighed. "You haven't changed at all though, have you. It's a wonder where that foul temper of yours comes from."

Kanda glared at her.

"You don't know me," he said.

"You'd be surprised what I know." Before the beyond annoyed Kanda could react, Star reached out and touched his hand. Shining, phantasmal lotuses materialized around them, falling from the air and flowering from the floor as if from the bed of a pond.

Kanda's eyes widened in surprise, just for an instant. Then he snatched his hand away and walked around her in a huff.

"Whatever."

Her hair flying back in the wind of his exit as he stormed off, Star smiled cheerfully.

"That was refreshing! Thanks, Kanda!" she called after him.


	4. Home

**Note:** **It looks like the site doesn't allow for any complex formatting so I can't format transitions between scenes the way I usually would (with breaks and/or special characters).**

Allen chuckled. "Refreshing, that guy? No way."

"I can see why you think so. But Kanda balances out all the pleasant characters around here, like Lenalee and yourself," Star chuckled. Noticing Allen watching her quietly she said, "What?"

"You seem cheerful but your smile's a little sad," Allen said.

"The world is pretty sad, Allen," Star said. Rocking on the balls of her feet, she changed the subject quickly, saying, "There's something you wanted to show me. My room, right."

Allen smiled, but hesitantly. In stride and letting the moment slide, he lead the rest of the way down the hall, saying, "Yeah, right around here. Come on. You can't miss it, we hung a huge sign on the door for you."

"But isn't this the way to dining hall? I was in here a little while ago—"

They walked around the corner and-

"Welcome Star!" the Black Order's European Branch staff chorused.

Star froze in her step and then felt a warm rush. With a soft gaze for everyone in the room, she thought, _It feels exactly the way I thought it would. Being welcomed by others._ A huge banner hung across the dining hall, reading in bold letters _Welcome Star Johannes!_ Jeryy, the Head Chef, was grinning ear-to-ear, standing near an expansive, mouthwatering buffet fit for a king.

"You're lucky," Lavi said. "Lenalee made sure that the Chief didn't break out any of his Komlin pals just for you."

"I'm grateful." She turned to Allen, pointing casually at the welcome banner printed boldly with her name. "That's a nice door sign there, Walker," Star said, cocking her eyebrow at him and holding back a watery, joyful smile. "But this is definitely not my room."

At the same time…

 _The Black Order just an organization like any other, she_ told herself, _full of people trying to be friendly. Nothing to get sappy about or attached to._

"I know," Allen laughed sheepishly. "But welcome. We're glad to have you."

"We wanted to surprise you. Jeryy kept telling us to hurry up and get you out of the dining hall earlier so he could start setting up while you were busy with the Chief but none of us knew how to approach you. Here, Star." Lenalee appeared holding a white mug. The bottom was printed with Star's initials, S.J. "Your own personal coffee mug."

Cradling the mug to her, Star said, "Thank you, Lenalee. Thank you everyone. This is great."

Even Kanda was there. Studiously not looking at her, brow pinched in irritation of course.

Star met a lot of the staff that evening, filled her stomach again, and later found herself standing with Miranda Lotto, Lenalee, and Krory.

"I'm still fairly new here too so I hope I can be of help and not a hindrance," Kro said with a nervous smile.

"Not at all. I really admire you, Krory. You, too, Lenalee. Miranda. Krory, you suffered a great loss, but rather than stay shut away from the world, you gathered the courage to dedicate your life to something that's meant to protect the world. And Lenalee, you put those boots back on because you wanted to protect your family even though no one would've blamed you for walking away." Star turned to the Miranda, a somewhat anxious but pretty and kind Exorcist with brunette, curling hair. There was always a look about her eyes, as if she was waiting for something to go wrong because she was around. "I've always wanted to meet you, Miranda! You became an Exorcist even though you were terrified of being thrust into battle. Even though your Innocence causes you to carry such a heavy burden and responsibility, you put yourself out there anyway, for the sake of others."

Each of them stammered embarrassedly at Star's open praise but she meant every word.

"Well, t-thank you, Star," Miranda said. "I do hope to get to know you better and that we'll work together soon."

Raising toasts with their cups, Krory and Lenalee agreed. Soon after, Komui called for them and they went first. Before Miranda could join them,

Star stopped her.

"Miranda."

"Hm? Yes, Star," Miranda smiled.

Star ran her finger around the rim of her empty coffee mug, staring inside. Then she looked Miranda in the eyes.

"I don't want you to be sad so I'm telling you this now: When the time comes, don't use the Time Record. It won't work…because your Innocence can't save me."

* * *

"Mahoja and Jump, you both have an assignment already, straight from Central starting tomorrow. So rest up," Komui said from the doorway of Star's room. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"Yes, sir," they said with bows. "Thank you."

"Thanks, Chief," Star said.

"Then I'll leave you to it. Jump, Mahoja, don't forget where your rooms are."

The Chief left. Star and her team looked around the room. The furniture consisted of a bed, a table, and a small wardrobe.

"Your room is the same as ours," Jump said. "Without the wardrobe."

"Spartan quarters," Mahoja looked around the impersonal space. "I expected something a little more elaborate or rather fancy and homey in a place that looks like the Palace of Westminster on the outside."

"Like butlers and a mint on the pillow?" Jump said.

Star flounced lightly onto the bed and settled into a groove against the pillows.

"I don't mind. Compared to where I live, the Black Order headquarters is a five-star resort. If there weren't any Akuma around, I'd chill here allll day."

Jump suddenly got serious.

"We have to find it, Star. You know that."

"I know, Jump. Don't you start too, Maho," Star glared at them. "There's nothing wrong with relaxing a little."

"You're already too relaxed!"

"Whatever. Go be dutiful and spoil your own fun in your own rooms," Star grumbled.


	5. Bookman

_After the brilliant light explodes from my body, everyone and everything always disappears… I drift alone in the darkness… alone in the void, left behind… cast out from the world…._

Star awakened to the sound of soft voices.

Jump was pulling on his shirt and talking with Mahoja. Gaia slept on the pillow beside Star's head wrapped in her colorful wings.

"Rise and shine, Princess Exorcist," Jump cajoled. He brushed his sheared hair with a soft bristled brush, bringing out the shine of his auburn waves. Tallish and lean, he looked even taller than he was from her prone position lying on the bed. His light hazel eyes fell on her. "I know you're awake, Star. Stop faking."

Squinting into the daylight filling the room from the window, Star poked out her lip and shrank back under the sheets.

"Good morning, Star," Mahoja smiled. "Sorry if we woke you." Without her Finder's gear on, she was dressed in a simply embroidered tunic and leggings. Mahoja's hair was as short as Jump's and dyed a lavender-periwinkle color. The extremely short hair and her hoop earrings drew attention to her high cheeks, smooth brown skin, and the gorgeous shape of eyes and mouth.

"Did you two stay in here all night?" Star muttered. They had been there when she fell asleep so she didn't remember them leaving.

"No, we came back at dawn."

"What'd'ya want?"

Jump and Mahoja both gave her looks. Gaia slapped her in the head with one of her wings.

"Right, right. Mission." Star pulled herself up in the bed. _There's really no avoiding it, is there,_ she thought. "What'd the Chief say?"

"We're leaving this morning," Mahoja replied.

Once they were all dressed and washed up (Star donning a pair of big cat slippers and a male Exorcist uniform while Mahoja and Jump put on their Finder coats), they went to the dining hall for breakfast. With her spread of food laid out on the table, Star noticed that Jump and and Mahoja hadn't gotten anything. Instead, they nursed mugs of coffee while she ate.

"Why are you still here? Looks like you've had breakfast already."

"There didn't seem to be too much of a hurry. Komui said we could as soon as we finished breakfast and wrapping up any other business. So we waited around for you to get up."

"You wanted to see what I was eating for breakfast."

"I mean, there is that," Jump admitted. He tied a green bandanna loosely around his neck.

"That's totally it." Star shook her head at them. Then she dug into a huge stack of pancakes half dripping in butter pecan syrup and half boysenberry syrup.

After she had her fill, they convened out front in the warm sunlight and clear day.

Mahoja and Jump stared up at a small white spot in the blue, blue sky. It was easily mistakable for a cloud…only it wasn't traveling with the rest of the clouds across the world with the wind.

"We're going to find it, Star. Be ready to come and back us up," Jump said.

"Right…" Star glanced away uncertainly. Everything was moving so fast. Again. _I know I'm not on vacation but…I only wish I had more time._

Jump frowned at her. "Seriously, Star. When Chief Komui sends you along, don't drag your feet." He turned to Gaia. "G, let me see the book real quick." Gaia flapped over to them and opened her mouth wide, spitting out a book. The average-sized volume was completely white and blank. "None of it is back yet… This is their world-permanently—if we don't finish this soon. Don't forget."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Star said.

Understanding the situation completely but always careful of pushing Star unnecessarily, Mahoja said, "We'll be waiting for you. You are the Holder this time. You've got the [bLaNk] so we can't do this without you."

"Right. I'll be along soon," Star said with a nod. In an attempt to lighten the mood, she added-

"Question: Why don't either of you wear the new Finder uniforms?"

Mahoja and Jump pulled their uniform hoods up and tugged their bandannas over the lower half of their faces.

"Hoods are cool."

"Hoods are what's happ'nin'."

Star stared at them. "Okay… You two are too much…" As they departed, she said, "Be careful, both of you. I'll see you soon. Don't do anything serious until I get there."

Star stayed outside with Gaia for awhile, just staring up at that white spot marring the sky. Then, with the golem flying after her, she went back inside. With nothing to do but wait, she wandered the halls, waving at people she had met last night. She thought of Mahoja and Jump, knowing they couldn't be in any trouble yet but hoping they were safe.

 _We are the Bookman of the worlds. Belonging nowhere and everywhere. Learning histories as they are written. Protecting and preserving those histories against the damages of outside forces._

Star waved at Johnny Gill as he passed on the hall in front of her.

 _But they're not supposed to know that._

She found her way to the platform that would take her to Hevlaska's chamber and went to greet the other Exorcist.

"Star Johannes," Hevlaska said in some surprise.

"Just Star, please." Staring up at that huge, decidedly feminine face, Star wondered, _Just what does Hevlaska do all day when she isn't probing people's Innocence? Where does she sleep?_

"Did Komui send you? I wasn't told anyone was coming."

"No, it's nothing like that…." Star fiddled with the hem of her uniform jacket. She thought, _It's quiet here…_

"Hevlaska…is it okay if I stay here with you a while? To talk, maybe. I mean, if that's okay?"

Hevlaska only smiled.

"I would not mind your company at all, Star."

Managing a small smile, Star sat down cross-legged and started blathering, feeling a little better in the process. _Thanks you, Hevlaska-sama,_ Star thought.


	6. The Traveling Mug

_**A few days later**_  
Kanda strode into the lounge and the staff taking a break there. A group of scientists and Lenalee, who was serving coffee, looked up in surprise.

"Anyone know why I found Star's coffee mug sitting in the middle of the foyer when I was returning from my mission?" Kanda said.

Section Chief Reever said, "Funny. I saw it sitting on Chief Komui's desk. It's a wonder it didn't get smashed under a pile of books—"

"Or a mountain of unread mail and unfinished documents," Cash Dop said.

"I last spotted it hanging on a string above Jeryy's counter in the dining hall," said Johnny Gill.

A few more people shouted out bizarre places they'd found Star's mug in the days since she'd arrived.

Reever said, "Kanda, run that mug to Johannes, will you. I'm sure she's missing it."

Instead Kanda shoved the mug into the hands of the nearest guy in a lab coat.

"What do I look like-a gofer? I brought it in here, didn't I. Take it to her yourself." He left without another word.

"Where is Johannes anyway?"

"Probably talking to Hevlaska," Lenalee said. "She spends a lot of time there."

Right then, Kanda backtracked by the lounge again. "She's coming down the hall now," he said as he passed the doorway. Obviously, he'd turned in the other direction at the sight of her.

Reever stepped into the hall, holding the mug.

"Star, I think you've been leaving something all over the place. Kanda found it. Why in the world was sitting on the floor in the foyer anyway? Here."

Star stopped and took it out of his hands.

"Oh, thank you very much, Section Chief Reever. I was wondering where it'd gotten off to." The moment Reever turned his back, Star promptly placed the mug on top of the most conspicuous statue in the corridor and went on her way.

 _ **Later**_  
At dinnertime, as Allen Walker was about go all in with his usual orders of multiple, large portion food dishes, he spotted Star's mug at Jeryy's counter (yet again).

"Is Star around?" he asked.

"She was in here earlier. Ate a ton of stuff, just like you, Allen, then went to get ready for her assignment. So fun cooking for you two and Mr. Krory!" Jeryy said enthusiastically.

"Her mug is here, did you see?"

"Someone brought it over earlier. Said they found it in the restricted research lab sitting next to the Ark gate for some reason," Jeryy explained. "I was hoping she'd come back and pick it up so I left it here."

"Oh, I see."

After ordering up his food, Allen made sure to find a table with a enough space for all his plates. Soon, he was joined by Lavi, Miranda, Lenalee, and Krory.

"Hi, Allen. Is Star around? Her mug is at the order window," Lenalee said.

"I know," Allen said. "I asked Jeryy about it. He said he left it there in case she comes back."

Lenalee laughed. "I'm beginning to suspect she's either forgetful or she's leaving it everywhere on purpose. Kanda found it sitting in the middle of the foyer when he came home from an assignment earlier."

"It could get broken," Miranda said.

"Oh, we'll just order her a new one if it does."

Allen put down his fork and knife.

"There's something that's been bothering me," he said. "What do you think Hevlaska's prophecy means?"

"The one she gave about Star? I don't know but it felt kind of ominous somehow," Lenalee said.

"Are you worried about it too, Allen?" Miranda asked, recalling what Star had said to her the night of her welcome party. "I heard from Lavi."

"Yes. It wasn't any more or less cryptic than the one I got when I arrived here and met Hevlaska for the first time," Allen said. "But…"

"The Destroyer of Time," Lavi said.

"Right. But was it just me or did Hevlaska seem upset or something after she pronounced Star's prophecy?"

Everyone fell silent and thought about it.

"'Sun' is another word for 'star'," Lenalee deduced. "Hevlaska said 'The Vanishing Sun'."

The question no one was willing to voice hung unspoken in the air around them: _Does that mean Star is going to die?_

"You think something is going to happen to Star?" Miranda asked, her heart pounding.

"Not if we can help it," said Lenalee.

"She hasn't been here very long, but she's still one of us," said Krory.

"Yeah, her and her mug," Lavi joked.

Allen, Krory, and Lenalee laughed but Miranda remained somber and worried. She spoke up as the laughter died off.

"Listen everyone: At the welcome party, Star did say something troubling, something that made me worry and think that she—"

A Finder appeared at the table side, saying, "The Chief wants to see you all."


	7. Star to Earth

Star waited to hear about her assignment while Komui moped on the desk waiting for Lenalee to bring him coffee. He had lines of fatigue under his eyes and looking he didn't really want to talk about it.

"Sir, if Bridgette Fey was here…" She certainly wouldn't allow him to waste time like this.

Finally, Komui said-

"Oh fine." Sitting up in his chair, he said, "I don't know if you saw it or not, but the night you arrived from Central, a stellar phenomenon occurred in our planet's atmosphere. People commonly refer to it as a shooting star, which is in fact not a star at all but a meteor that becomes a blazing meteoroid as it enters the planet's atmosphere and falls to earth."

 _So they did see it._ Sighing long and deeply to herself, Star forced herself to ask curiously—

"Chief, what does a shooting star have to do with my mission?"

"The meteoroid impacted in an accessible region not too far from here," Komui said. "Mahoja and Jump left that morning to investigate. From their reports, we now already know that what we will find at the impact site is not a meteorite at all: It is Innocence."

 _Shock! Suspense!_ Star tried to express those reactions on her face and put them into her voice and body language.

"What…how is that possible?" she said.

"Innocence falling out of the sky. It is indeed astonishing, I know, but there's little to no doubt, considering the bizarre reports we received from Finders who talked to the locals." Komui handed her a file across his cluttered desk. "That's why Central has ordered me to send you, Star. Your assignment is to join Jump, Mahoja, and the other Finders at the site and further investigate the effects of the goes without saying that you are to retrieve the Innocence."

"Yes, sir," Star said.

Komui continued, "Because Akuma or Noah might be lurking in the area already, you will be deployed at a moment's notice so please prepare as soon as we're done here. The Finders will keep us updated on the situation there in the meantime via golem and telephone. But…erring on the side of caution, several Exorcists are on standby and shall accompany you until you meet up with the Finders stationed at the site. Once the situation there is assessed, the other Exorcists will then depart on their own assignments so it will be up to you to discover the fate of the missing travelers and secure the Innocence."

"Yes, Chief. But how will I know I've found it?" Asking for the sake of asking. Asking questions anyone in her position might ask though she didn't need the answers.

"The Innocence created a visible phenomenon where it impacted the ground. I'm told that you can't miss it. Be careful, Star."

"Yes, sir." Star turned around to leave but stopped. "You know, Chief, I can brew the coffee for you. It's not a big deal."

Komui wailed loudly and rolled back and forth in his chair. "Lenalee's is the best! I can't operate unless my dear Lenalee makes it!"

Star left the Chief's office, his distraught crying and babbling fading in the background, shaking her head. _Fu fu fu fu-such an easy target…_

That evening, Star suited up in her skirt uniform from her first day at the Order. Because of her teasing, Johnny had blushed the whole time while measuring her for it. An endearing and pleasurable memory for Star.

She and Gaia assembled with the team in the underground waterway to depart for the mission. Krory, Miranda, Lavi, Allen, and Kanda soon joined them in the torchlit dimness of the passage near the boat. A few extra Finders joined them.

"Our first assignment together," Miranda said, standing beside Star. "I didn't expect so many Exorcists to be sent along."

"Yeah," Star smiled brightly, briefly touching Miranda's shoulder. "Too bad you all can't come the whole way with me. I hope there won't be any trouble once I'm by myself!"

"We'll be accompanying you into the area where the Innocence is and once we confirm that the area is secure, we'll go our separate ways," Kanda said. Arms folded over his chest around Mugen, his anti-Akuma weapon, he was cool and composed, posted up on a nearby stretch of wall. But still managing to look somewhat haughty and irritated. "Besides, you're an Exorcist from Central. You don't need us to hold your hand."

"Kanda…are you trying to be…nice to Star?" Allen gaped at him.

"Shut it, moyashi!" Kanda snapped and turned away.

Allen's gaze flattened irately.

"It's Allen, bakanda!"

"The boats are ready," one of the Finders told them.

 _Our first…and last assignment together,_ Star thought. They boarded the boats and when everyone else started chatting to pass the time, she turned away from them and, for a few moments to herself, stared into the water's gleaming dark surface.

* * *

Another not-so-pleasant sitting in his office with Director Malcolm C. Lvellie from Central. Glad that Lenalee didn't have to see the man, Komui immediately slipped in his questions about Star at the conclusion of their scheduled business.

"Not even I have any complete records on the nature of Star Johannes' Innocence, Director Lvellie. As Chief of the European Branch, should I really have to learn about the extent of the abilities of one my Exorcists from field reports? She even has unrestricted access to Hevlaska's chamber that I did not authorize."

Levellie took a sip of tea from his cup.

"Let her do as she pleases. Its not like it matters. Star Johannes is the least of our concerns."

Komui froze, trying to keep the anger and horror at Lvellie's words. The Exorcist, risking their lives against endless dangers, deserved better than that.

"Director?"

Lvellie gave him a look.

"Central has told me far more about that woman than you know, Chief Komui."

"What exactly are you saying? I don't understand, Director! Does Central have plans to eliminate Star Johannes after they're done using her to achieve their ends?"

"She will do what is necessary, then she will disappear. So what good is she to us the Order or the Church?"

Is this what Lvellie and their superiors believed was the worth of an Exorcist's life? Is this how they saw Lenalee? Allen? The others? Disposable toy soldiers to be used at will until they broke? Komui tried to control his emotions and voice but started failing in degrees.

"Star is an Exorcist. At the least, she is an invaluable and irreplaceable asset to the cause. Central can't be planning—!"

"Central isn't planning anything, Chief Komui." Lvellie finished his tea and rose from his seat. "I do believe I have said quite enough. I will be seeing you at our next meeting and taking my leave for now."


	8. Quest for Innocence

**_This chapter has more changes in setting and character perspective than usual, marked by lines/breaks._**

Sitting alone on the train, Star summarized from the assignment file under her breath as she flipped through it.

" _…on the path in a field surrounded by forests between two towns. Several travelers and townspeople walking the path between the two towns. They encountered the phenomenon. Since then, the people have disappeared without a trace…._ "

Star sighed exasperatedly, slapping the mission dossier into her lap and dropping her head against the seat. She tipped her gaze toward the window and watched the forested, hilly scenery roll by.

"Why did it have to land in such a conspicuous place…"

"You talking about the Innocence the Chief sent you after?"

Starting a little and raising her head, Star looked up and saw Lavi standing next to the empty aisle seat beside her.

"Yes. Thinking out loud. It's a habit. The Innocence might be putting these people in danger. I'm concerned."

"I know. I don't know many of the details. From what I did hear, we don't even know if the people who encountered the Innocence survived it."

"They did survive."

"How do you know?" Lavi said.

"Because if Innocence killed, then what would be left for it to save."

The train stopped and Lenalee came around to collect them.

"There you two are."

"Already?" Lavi said.

"Yes," Lenalee said, "seems like we have to get on a boat. Then, because no one will get too close to the place where the Innocence landed, we'll have to get a ride part of the way and walk the the last leg. Let's get going."

"Right," Lavi said.

* * *

The sun was slowly waning from the sky as their group left the train for a ferry to cross the water.

Allen was getting onto the boat with the last of their people when he heard raised voices from the rear. Star Johannes and a group of Finders were back there.

"What's wrong with wanting save people and save people's souls! What even is the point of saving lives if souls don't matter, too!" Star said, eyes shining with angry tears.

"I'm not an Exorcist and I can't see the souls of Akuma so I can't say much about that," one Finder argued back heatedly. "But don't talk about

Allen Walker and Suman Dark to me like they're saints. I don't wanna hear it!"

Allen froze, triggered by the feelings and flashes of memory that Suman Dark raised in him. Johnny Gill and a few others had thanked him for trying to save Suman after he became a Fallen One because they knew the whole story. Others…were not so thankful. _And they have their reasons, but I don't regret it,_ Allen thought. _I had to try to save Suman_.

"When Allen saved Suman Dark, he was doing the right thing," Star said. "I don't have a single doubt about it."

"Dark was a traitor," the Finder argued bitterly. "They tried to keep it hushed up but there are rumors. 148 confirmed dead, Johannes. Don't preach to protect him."

Many of the Finders nodded and voiced their agreement, giving Star hostile looks.

Passionately, Star retorted, "Suman Dark was at best coerced into joining the Order, wasn't he? Even had he refused, there's every chance the Order wouldn't have given him a choice because he was born with a parasitic Innocence on his arm, just like Allen. In no way was what Suman did right… But you could say the Order, as an organization that press gangs Exorcists, reaped what it sowed. Humanity's servants and a lot of innocent people paid the price with their lives."

Shaken from his thoughts and his tangled emotions at walking in on this conversation so suddenly, Allen stepped forward towards Star and the Finders.

* * *

Star was so worked up she couldn't even remember how this all started with the Finders. More than a few had nearly spit at the sound of Allen's name.

None of them seemed to know what to say to her last words but their anger and distrust hardened their faces and hearts. It held their tongues and they turned away, ignoring her.

 _Allen tried to save him… Allen didn't let Suman die alone in disgrace and pain. He did everything in his power to save him from the fate his Innocence judged._

"Even after the horrible thing Suman did, I can't say I would've left him alone, suffering and afraid. Not if I could've helped."

Star heard footsteps behind her and someone touched her shoulder. Allen was standing there when she turned around.

"Allen…"

"It's okay, Star. Thank you."

His smile was soft and filled with understanding and gratitude. Still heated from the argument but cooling down, Star found herself blushing over the fact that Allen had caught her arguing about him so fervently.

Lavi walked over to them.

"What's going on, Allen?"

"Nothing. Let's go inside, Star. Lavi."

* * *

As Star and Allen left, Lavi was waylaid by the appearance of his master, Bookman.

"When did you get here, old man?"

"Just a moment ago." Eyes circled in their trademark black markings, his shrewd and yet unreadable gaze followed Star as she and Allen found a place to sit in the passenger area.

"You know what those three are, Lavi," Bookman said. "The Exorcist and the two Finders that arrived at the Black Order with her. You've at least sensed something about her. The knowledge is hidden deep in your Bookman memories which is why you don't realize it. The truth is there all the same."

"Hidden? We record the hidden history. How can history be hidden from us?"

"You need more training."

"Just what are you trying to tell me—or not tell me-about Star? Hey, you're not going to warn me that as your successor I shouldn't get involved or get too friendly?"

Bookman turned and walked away towards the less crowded end of the boat.

"I don't have to," Bookman said. "Not this time."

 _Now I'm definitely confused,_ Lavi thought.

"What… Hey, come back here! What do you mean, you old panda!?"

Bookman gave no answer and Lavi sighed in frustration.

 _Looks like I'll have to figure it out myself._


	9. Still Night

_**AN: Here comes Star's Innocence! (Finally). Read the next chapter to see it in action. ;-)  
**_

Though she hated feeling separated from everyone in the group, Star sat alone on a bench on the outer wall of the passenger area. It faced the ferry's stern, the dark, glistening water reflecting the night and the waves and ripples the boat made as it pulled them closer to their destination.

Star found the "white spot" in the sky and wondered when this world would begin to be effected by it's presence. _They think the Millennium Earl is a problem now? Evil is about to double and multiply around here._

Footsteps approached on her left and she glanced around to see Lavi coming over to her.

"Allen went to sleep on me and Kanda might kill me if I bother him."

Cradling Gaia in her lap in the cup of her palms, Star chuckled.

"Kanda isn't much of a talker. It was smart not to bother him."

Lavi sat down beside her on the bench.

"I thought about it and I figured it out you know."

"Did you now." Star had seen Lavi's master join their party earlier. There was no way he hadn't said anything to his successor, Lavi, about Mahoja, Jump, and herself.

"The only thing the old man is more secretive about than Bookman memories is the Bookman Clan itself. I figure you must be—"

"I can't talk about it."

"I know." He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and stared at the deck.

Star and Lavi sat in silence for a moment, one of the only comforts two Bookman could give each other.

"In my world, there are no Akuma," Star said. She didn't know why she said it, she just started talking. "No one has any special powers. If Innocence exists, it lives only in the divine providence of God, in a domain humans cannot touch."

Lavi sent her a sidelong glance. He gave her a lazy half-grin and tried to go for carefree and casual though it never reached his green eyes.

"A world without Akuma. Sounds good to me."

"Hmph," she said absently and softly. She stared off into the night. "No matter how ideal it sounds, you'd be surprised how difficult it is to fight evil in such a world. There's still war and everything else, even without Akuma. Believe me, you'd be disappointed with the history there, too, Lavi. And me… There, I can't save anyone. Can't save myself. Can't make anything better. I'm nobody."

It was Lavi who broke the quiet that came between them this time.

"Some days I still don't know if I'm an Exorcist or not."

"Me too. Ever since I got here. But I can at least pretend to be for a few minutes at a time."

"Same for me," Lavi smiled. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave a little squeeze. "For right now at least, we're Exorcists. The same as all our friends."

Suddenly, Star smiled. She clapped him the on the shoulder and returned the squeeze.

"Right!"

They leaned back against against the bench and rested their heads on the wall. Gaia fluttered her wings the settled into a snooze. Soon they fell asleep beneath the light of the moon in the peaceful quiet, the sides of their faces pressed together.

A terrified shout jolted them both awake moments later.

"Akuma!"

Allen, Lavi, Krory, Lenalee, and Kanda appeared immediately to protect the ferry and its passengers.

"Miranda, please protect everyone else," Allen said as he activated Crown Clown, cover himself it's bright, luminescent cloak.

"Right!" Miranda nodded and activated her Innocence, the Time Record, as well. "Yes, of course." She cordoned off the passenger's area and the rest of the ferry in the Time Record's protective barrier and the battle started on both sides as the Exorcists engaged.

As explosions and canon-like gunfire sounded loudly, Star climbed on top of the bench, Gaia circling her head. The night sky was littered with them, Level 1 and several Level 3 Akuma. She studied each of them quickly. _They all look like normal Akuma, but I'll need to activate to be sure none of the others are around too._

"What are you doing," Johannes! Kanda shouted while leaping into the air and slicing an Akuma in two with Mugen. "Get it in gear!"

 _I'm not supposed alter anything native to this world… Not unless it's absolutely necessary._

Lavi kept looking at her as swung the Iron Hammer around, smashing Akuma that got too close to the boat.

"Could really use some help here, now might be a really good time to show us that Innocence of yours!"

 _But…for right now…I'm an Exorcist, too!_

Star cupped her hands in front of her body, fingertips down. Her voice resounded in the night.

"Innocence, awaken." Shining through her uniform, from her sternum to the tops of her thighs, a glowing, flourishing symbol appeared on the center of her body.

"Parasite Eve…ACTIVATE!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Star, Mahoja, and Jump being Bookman** **is appropriate** **(for what I know about the Bookman Clan since there isn't too much about them in the D. Gray-Man story yet) . It would explain how they knows things about the characters and the story/the world/the lives of the characters. Some kind of extra-dimensional and/or alternate universe special Bookman. They don't belong to any world so they can oversee the history of multiple worlds.**


	10. Parasite Eve--ACTIVATE!

_I shouldn't be wasting my energy on this but… I want to fight alongside everyone else!_

Star's brown irises turned gold. An aura of red phantom flames surrounded her. "Sword," she said. A red, gold, and black ornate sword materialized in her left hand, bearing the same aura as her body and crackled in gold flames. Throwing herself forward and up, Star shot out into the night, gliding towards the Akuma hovering lower in the air above the ferry.

Lavi hooted as he rode by on the extended handle of his hammer, evading the blasts from the Akuma guns.

"You can fly!"

All _Gee, shucks,_ Star shouted after him, "Glide actually, in this form. And what goes up and slightly glides must come down." S _o I'd better hurry before my pixie dust runs out._

With a burst of speed, Star dashed among the Akuma, slashing them with her blade. She moved back and forth fluidly, turning, flipping, and cutting as she went.

"How are you doing that, Star? That's amazing," Allen called, then raised his bladed left hand and cut down the Akuma going for Miranda and the passengers. "I didn't know you could use a sword."

"For one thing, I've been spying on Kanda in the training room. As for my Innocence… Except for what my body needs to function, I convert my energy into Innocence that I form into various weapons. The weapons work as extensions of my body and infect the Akuma that I touch with them. My parasitic Innocence, fittingly named Parasite Eve, destroys Akuma much like their own virus kills humans—from the inside out!" Hovering, she thought on it second, a finger to her chin. "Well, outside in actually." Then she lunged and stabbed the Akuma that rushed at her.

Right at that moment, her glide waned and she fell from the air towards cold dark waters.

 _Damn it!_ Star tried to summon more power but felt her body sucking in on itself as Parasite Eve pulled more power to convert from it. Fatigue assailed her.

Someone caught her by the wrist. When she looked up, Lenalee smiled awkwardly.

"You're a lot lighter than I expected."

"Sorry, I'll try to go for elephant next time," Star said wryly.

Lenalee said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Forget it. It's nothing."

Thanks to Lenalee, they landed safely on the deck of the ferry moments later.

"It's my Innocence," Star explained in response to Lenalee's comment. "It burns calories pretty quick. I get faster, I glide, and my physical strength increases… Unfortunately…"

A few people gasped as Star fell to one side, only to be caught by Kro.

"Are you alright, Star? You look so drained."

Panting shallowly and sweating feverishly, Star swallowed down her dry throat. She pushed her soft, full, jaw-length twists out of her face. Kro quickly helped her over to the bench she and Lavi had been sitting on before the attack. Explosions continued over the water as Lavi, Allen, Lenalee, and Kanda finished off the remaining Akuma.

"We should be safe for the moment. The others are almost finished out there," Krory said, one eye on the action.

"Thanks, Kro. Unfortunately, as I was saying, my Innocence takes its toll."

"Your uniform…it's hanging off you!" Miranda said in shock.

Star patted her very loose uniform jacket with thin, trembling hands. The standing, once fitted collar sagged around her neck so that she could partially sick her hand inside. It was like she had lost nearly a third of her body weight in a matter of moments.

"And it didn't get bigger, did it. You shrank," Kanda deduced.

"Like I said, Parasite Eve sort of eats me as it's fuel."

"That's too dangerous, isn't it?" Miranda said.

"Fighting Akuma, what isn't dangerous about that really," Star shrugged. "Every weapon has it's drawbacks. Every war has it's causalities, sacrifices, and risks."

When the fight was done, Allen descended to the deck of the ferry near Star, Miranda, and Kro, deactivating Crown Clown's glowing mantle.

"Shouldn't you deactivate your Innocence?"

"In a minute." Her sword vanished and Star manifested a lorgnette that matched the sword in ornate style.

"Come on, you've earned a rest." Allen's lighthearted tone almost hid his concern. "The Earl's forces may already be at the location of Star's assignment. I don't think we should immediately split up for missions that can wait."

Through the mechanical lenses of the opera glasses she held up to her eyes by its handle, she scanned the area. But she didn't see anything nearby or in the distance of the night.

 _So not yet, huh. It hasn't spread._ Sighing silently, Star deactivated Parasite Eve. The red phantom flame aura around her dissipated along with the lorgnette. The draining pull inside of her faded as the Innocence stopped drawing on her body for power. _I need to rest and eat to recover my strength._

"I'd appreciate you all there just in case, thank you," Star said.

"I agree with Allen. Komui said to stick together if anything looked suspicious," Lenalee said. "Akuma might already be after the Innocence."

 _But they're not the ones you should be worried about,_ Star thought.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 ** _Parasite Eve_ is also a novel by Hideaki Sena with a PlayStation game inspired by it (I don't think me, my sister, or my brother ever got past the first fight or somebody broke into our house and stole the game, I can't remember what happened -_-). I always thought the game was interesting and wanted to know the story.**

 **In _The 110th Innocence,_ Parasite Eve refers to the parasitic nature of Star's Innocence and how it infects Akuma. Eve can refer to any number of references concerning Star, including her gender; it can be a reference to Eve and Eden from the Bible; or eve as in "the day before", "the period immediately before something", or "the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)". It also refers to Hevlaska's prophecy, the title of "the Centennial Eve".**

 **The type of ornate spectacles Star uses that allow her to see the souls of Akuma are called lorgnettes. The glasses she manifests can take on the form of pince nez, monocles, and other ornate seeing glasses** **with colored lenses** **. I had originally called them opera glasses and learned something new while writing this chapter.**


	11. False Alarn

Two Akuma were waiting for them before dawn as the ferry reached the shore. Tough ones and even though they outnumbered the enemy, it took some time to get rid of these ones.

A Level 3 launched itself at Star, knocking her over and pinning her to the deck.

"Star!" Allen shouted.

She quickly activated Parasite Eve. Instantly she felt a pull inside her body as her energy converted itself into Innocence. She looked into the sharp, inhuman face of the Akuma above her holding her down. It opened it's jaws to bite off her face, rows of teeth glistening. With a thought, she manifested a pair of wire frame glasses with translucent red, gold-tinted lenses; they fogged up under the Akuma's foul breath.

Star looked into the barely visible eyes of the trapped, mutilated soul coming out of the creature's body.

"Did I mention that I can channel Innocence through any part of my body? That includes my fists. You could say that activating my Innocence literally transforms my entire body into a living anti-Akuma weapon.

With her thumb and index finger, Star flicked the seemingly impenetrable hide of the Level 3. It leapt off her and back towards the sky…too late. In midair, the Akuma's body rang like a bell, shining with a gold and green shimmer spreading outward from where Star had touched it. It shuddered violently, it's armor-like husk cracking, then the Akuma exploded.

Star stood up.

"Bring forth salvation to this tormented Akuma's soul," she said. Alongside Allen, she watched through her glasses as the soul of the child bound in the Akuma's body ascended and vanished.

Allen stared at her, surprised. Then he smiled warmly.

"That's my line."

She grinned sheepishly at him.

"I know."

Covered in Akuma blood oil, Kanda strode past them with a disgusted sound.

"Great. Another bleeding heart."

On the shore at dawn, they were met by a group of nervous-looking Finders. One of them reported.

"Hello. We're here to escort you. The Innocence is located in a field between Myre Village and the town of Hayden. We've already been informed of rumors of a strange phenomenon occurring along the trajectory of that shooting star and at it's impact site—the appearance of strange large white creatures-"

 _White creatures?_ Star listened intently to the Finder.

"Noah!"

A gunshot went off, startling everyone. Star froze. A piece of her hair fell smoking to the ground. The bullet from the shot had barely missed her face.

One of the Finders who had joined them held a gun in his trembling hands.

"Where did you even get that?" Lavi shouted at him as Allen grabbed the Finder's wrist, forcing him to lower the muzzle of the weapon to the ground.

"Are Finders even _allowed_ to carry guns!?" Miranda shrieked, rattled.

Growing to a size proportionate to her fury and outrage, spit flying, Star snapped at the armed Finders, looming over them like a giant—

"You coulda hit me, you moron! I'm _**not**_ a Noah!"

"B-b-but you're the same color, aren't you?" the terrified Finder with the gun stammered.

"I'm Black, as in _of African descent_. Are you slightly colorblind or are you just STUPID?! We're not even the same shade of brown! Noah are like a very flawless, appealing umber. I'm like a…caramel-cinnamon. You do spend a lot of time in Europe around white people and other pale types so maybe you accuse every brown person you come across of being a Noah, hanh?!"

"N-no!" The party of Finders fell down their knees and bowed over and over again. "We're sorry, we're sorry! We're very sorry!"

"You'd better be!" she snapped. Shrinking back to normal size, Star harrumphed, glaring down at them a second, then walked away.

"If you can't tell the difference between a Noah and one of your own, you've got no business calling yourself a Finder," Kanda said before walking off.

Seriously, Allen told them as Star stamped away, "I'm not sure you all should be carrying firearms. Leave the Akuma and Noah to the Exorcist if they show up, okay. There should enough of us here to handle them."

The armed Finders turned their weapons over to their team leader.

"Y-yes, Exorcist, sir…"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**  
 **[**SPOILER ALERT?**]**  
 **"Do you see Allen's body?" —Johnny Gill**  
 **"He looks like a Noah." —Reever Wenham (from D. Gray-Man Hallow dub, Episode 8 "Awakening")**  
 **In the D. Gray-Man Hallow anime, the skin color of the Noah Family is clearly brown, not the sort of gray-umber from the 2006 anime. I thought it was rude that they didn't directly note that Allen's skin color changed from white to brown. Allen doesn't have stigmata marks on his body like the other Noah so Reever is just like, Look—that skin color—he's a Noah! (and I think Daisya Barry literally said that about a Noah's color when he confronted Tyki Mikk in Barcelona). I wrote part of this chapter to express my mixed emotions on the topic.**


	12. Just Past Hayden

In Hayden, one of those towns nearest Star's assignment, they got a man in a wagon to take them to the edge of the forest that met the field where the Innocence had landed. Once there, he would go no further and left them. Luckily, what they were looking for was right in front of them.

"What…is that?" Allen said, staring into the field.

In the center of the country field surrounded by forests, a huge white dome dominated the area. It looked as if it had simply erased everything around it, even the sky, leaving only its spherical white shape.

"It can only be the Innocence," Kanda said grimly.

"I've never seen anything like it," Krory said.

"Yeah, unreal," said Lavi. "I can't even say how big it is, taking up so much of this field."

The remaining Finders on the assignment stationed there met them as they approached.

"Where are Mahoja and Jump?" Star asked immediately.

Looking uneasy, one of them said, "I'm John. Those new Finders that came with you…they keep going off on their own. When Akuma are spotted, they go and the Akuma vanish. How are they doing it?"

"Where are they?" Star asked again. It was best if they didn't know, at least that's what Jump and Mahoja would say, so she ignored his question.

John didn't look happy about it, but he answered her.

"Mahoja is waiting outside of the dome. She said its best we don't go in and to wait for you to arrive. Jump is inside and hasn't come out."

"Thank you. I'll take it from here." She went ahead while the others stood around listening to the rest of the Finder's reports.

As John the Finder had said, Mahoja was waiting outside of the anomaly. On her shoulder, her black golem rustled it's half-folded wings. She frowned at Star's drained, shrunken appearance the moment she saw her.

"What happened?"

"It wasn't that big a deal," Star shrugged. "Just a skirmish on the way."

"Didn't Jump tell you not to dawdle. You could've flown here, Star. Why didn't you?"

"Oh just wave at everyone and say, 'Gee guys, I'm itching crack some Akuma and get that Innocence so I'm going ahead. Laters!'? What do you think I am-Kanda or something," she muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"First of all," Mahoja said, "Kanda wouldn't say 'Laters'. Second, neither should you. Come on. I know you don't want this world to be destroyed. I don't want that either, you know."

"They haven't become completely visible yet."

"Yet," Mahoja stressed.

"My point is that we still have time."

Though it wasn't certain how much time they actually had left.

Before Star and Mahoja could go inside the dome, Allen caught up to them, closely followed by the other Exorcists.

"Hey, Star. The Finders told us that they've managed to make sure no one else goes into the dome. I hope Jump is alright in there. You weren't going in without us, were you?"

"I've got it from here, Allen. Everyone. Don't worry about Jump. I'm sure he's just looking for the missing villagers and travelers. You can go now."  
But as she Mahoja turned towards the dome, three of the Exorcists stepped up beside her. Star looked at them.

"I said I got this."

"Let's be sure you and the Finder teams don't need more backup first, Star, before we take off. Okay?" Lenalee said.

Star glanced at Mahoja, who was hesitating to say something with her eyes. A second later, Star relented.

"…Fine."

Lavi said, "Kanda, Miranda, Bookman, and Krory should stay here with the Finders just in case. Me, Lenalee, Star, and Allen will go inside and get that Innocence."

Everyone agreed. Mahoja, Star, Allen, Lenalee, and Lavi stepped inside the dome, passing through it's white outer wall and into what waited beyond.


	13. The Blank Town

All sound nearly ceased as they passed into the dome's domain. So the gasps that broke the sanctuary-like quiet and echoed around the unbelievable world they entered sounded unnaturally loud.

"What…" Lavi whispered, gaping as he stared around.

A completely white, blank town stretched in front of them. All distinct shapes, moldings, and lines but absolutely no color. Even the clouds high above their heads were white and only so shadowed as to see them moving across the vast white sky.

White silhouettes of people moved around the town square. They had no discernible facial features, simply distinctly human forms exhibiting every other characteristic right down to the folds in their clothes. None of them appeared to notice the only spots of color walking in and joining them.

Star had thought there was no sound at all but there was a very low stirring in the air, as if the audio in the place was turned down very low.

"Remember the Rewinding Town?" Allen uttered as he, too, stared.

"When we met Miranda?" Lenalee whispered.

"Yeah," Allen nodded. "We should call this the Blank Town."

"I mean where the heck are we, what is this?" Lavi sputtered. "Are all them really people?"

"Sort of," Mahoja replied. "Don't touch anything."

Carefully, they walked into the crowd.

Lavi stopped to goggle at a quietly giggling and distinctly feminine silhouette in a dress.

"Lavi, you don't even know what that is," Lenalee said.

"Of course I do, it's a girl."

"She doesn't even have a face!"

"Yet she's still a girl and I can see that she is."

Star rolled her eyes.

"Don't touch her." _It_. Yes, don't touch _it_ was more accurate.

"He really doesn't know what that is," Mahoja muttered. Another way of saying he probably didn't really want to know.

"Don't touch them," Star warned, "Don't touch anything. Don't give them any indication that you're here and they'll ignore you. And that's what you want them to do, trust me."

 _"Psstt."_

Everyone looked in the direction of that noise.

"Jump," Lavi said. The Finder was standing in a narrow nearby alley, masterfully inconspicuous. "You're okay."

Accompanied by a standard issue golem similar to Mahoja's, Jump waved them into the mouth of the alley and they joined him, moving away from the blank people.

"Hi, Lavi. Good to see you again. I wasn't entirely sure of what would happen if any of the other Finders entered the dome so I told them I'd go in alone. It was a risk but no worries, I've just been canvasing and observing the area." Jump gave Star a look. "You're late."

"Have you located the Innocence?" Star hedged.

Jump led them through a maze of alleys away from the main street that was full white silhouettes going about their business.

"Yeah. It's in a very conspicuous fountain up ahead." He stopped at the mouth of alley a few moments later.

Star peered around the corner and saw a big marble fountain up ahead. It was the only thing they'd seen that gave any motion to the scenery other than the blank people and the clouds. It was also the only thing emitting a clearly audible sound: the crystal clear water running and chiming in the pools of it's basins.

Something inside the fountain was shining brightly, shooting off brilliant, mother of pearl rays from the crystalline water.

"And that must be the Innocence," Lenalee said.

"One little problem though: They're already here," Jump said. Very pointedly, he added to Star and Mahoja, "All of them."

They was a hoard of Akuma filling the air around the fountain and standing scattered on the white flagstone around it.

"Akuma," Allen said, then he frowned. "But my eye isn't reacting. Are we inside some kind of barrier?"

"The Innocence drew them in but somehow it's put them in a trance or something," Jump explained. "And even worse, there's one more problem…"

Jump pointed at the base of the fountain. The glassy-eyed townspeople and travelers clustered on the floor, more splashes of color against the whiteness aside from the Exoricists, Finders, and the Akuma.

Star stared determinedly at the fountain.

"It's right there. I'll grab it and this will be over."

Even though she was talking to Jump and Mahoja, Lavi and Lenalee immediately protested.

"You told us not to touch anything!"

"And what if you walk over there, take the Innocence, and whatever spell is holding the Akuma breaks and they wake up? We have to get the missing people out of here first."

"It won't matter one way or the other once I have the Innocence."

Misunderstanding, Lenalee looked shocked.

"That doesn't sound like you, Star. You're not the kind of person who puts the lives of innocent people in danger to complete a mission objective."

"You don't understand—"

Stepping in Star's path, Allen said quietly, "Star, what do you know about this place? There's something you haven't told us,"

"I wasn't going to tell you anything." Star bit her lip anxiously. "But since we've come this far…"

"What do you mean?"

Jump and Mahoja shook their heads at her but Star barreled forward anyway.

"Your eye isn't reacting because this—the Blank Town as you called it-is a special space." She summoned a monocle with the same colored lens as her glasses. "Take this, Allen. Put it on your left eye, your cursed eye. Look at the blank people on the street behind us and study the sky."

Allen took the monocle did as she said. His eyes widened in horror. He looked up and all around as far as he could see.

"It can't be!"

"Allen, what is it? What do you see?" Lenalee asked urgently.

"Every one of the blank people. And filling the sky—all Akuma!"


	14. Komlin-110

Akuma filled the sky and every single one of the blank people bore a soul sprouting from their bodies. That wasn't counting the regular Akuma drawn into the area by the Innocence in the fountain. Which was exactly what Jump meant by _"All of them"_.

Star manifested glasses for Lavi and Lenalee as well.

"Now you see. Every single person here is an Akuma. They're not visible to anyone except myself, Mahoja, and Jump."

"Whoa!" Lavi said. He immediately went pale and pulled off the seeing glass Star had given him.

"But they look strange…they're all white," said Allen. "Like the blank people."

"So many. Hundreds…maybe thousands. Is this some new Akuma the Earl has created?" said a shaken Lenalee.

"For now, they are confined here in the Blank Town," Star explained. "But if I get the Innocence now, this terrible legion will disappear."

There was motion near the fountain.

"Hey!" Lavi shouted.

A figure in a white cloak approached the the fountain, stepping over the townspeople under the Innocence's spell.

"They're going for the Innocence!"

Star raced forward, dodging through the normal Akuma and going for the stranger at the fountain. She ignored the protests of the others. _I should've come sooner. This is my fault._

With her Innocence already activated and using low energy to enhance her vision and the people she shared her seeing glasses with, Star called out-

"Parasite Eve, Level 2—Action Figure!"

Phantasmal red and gold flames covered Star's body in a glowing ornate armor. With a burst of speed, she literally flew towards the cloaked figure instead of gliding.

"If I can't get it then _neither can you!"_

Swinging around, she kicked him hard before he could blink or draw another breath let alone grab the Innocence. Kicked with such speed and force, the cloaked intruder soared through the sky and out of the dome altogether.

Kanda dropped in right after, roughed up and blood-spattered.

"Get outside. The area is overrun with Akuma," Kanda said. "What's taking so long in here anyway?" They explained the situation quickly and he amended, "Fine, we don't need those people in the way." He pointed Mugen at the people sitting around the fountain.

Lenalee nodded.

"Let's get the missing people out of here and then we'll come back for the Innocence. Since we may not be able remove it without awakening the Akuma under it's spell."

They tiptoed through the listless Akuma and started moving the people out of the dome, careful not to wake anything they didn't want woken. Star glanced into the fountain at the shining thing inside. A resonance echoed in her body now that she was so close to it.

 _It'll be over in a moment,_ Star thought.

Helping two dazed townspeople, she headed down an alley after the other Exorcists towards the edge of the dome.

Outside the dome an all-out battle hit Star in a wall of sounds and explosions. Miranda was holding Time Out around the Finders.

At the edge of the forest opposite Hayden, the outskirts of Myre was lined in dilapidated buildings from an old attempt at expanding their village. After they moved all the people into Miranda's shield with the Finders, Lenalee, Lavi, and Kanda dove into the fray, eliminating any immediate threats to them. Star geared up to fight too, saying—

"Miranda, you and the townspeople go into the ruins over there. You've earned a rest. We should—"

Abruptly, Star's Innocence deactivated. She collapsed to her knees.

A horrible, loud chorus of gurgling, whining growls filled the air.

"What the heck is that noise?" someone said.

Pausing in swinging his hammer around, Lavi said, "I know this sound…Star, you too!?"

Allen and Star were both on the ground, their Innocence inactive and their stomachs growling so loudly that even some of the Akuma stopped and stared in horror.

"I guess I'm hungrier than I thought," Allen said drearily, chewing on the collar of his uniform.

"My Innocence needs a lot of power, you know," Star said. She was so drained her cheeks were starting to hollow out.

 _Ding._ There was a flash of a twinkle above them, then yet another thing rained down from the sky. A few of the Black Order members yelped when they recognized it.

"Komlin!"

"I am the Komlin-110 mini," the mini drone said in it's robotic voice. It retracted the helicopter blades it had used to fly to them into the proper compartment in its body and continued, "I am a Komlin mini-drone sent by Chief Komui Lee to deliver emergency supplies."

It indeed had a large package tied around its back. Finder John untied and unfastened the tarp around the package. He withdrew what appeared to box and it had a delicious smell wafting out of it that made Allen and Star's stomachs get even nosier.

"The Chief sent us bento boxes?"

"I believe he has," someone else sighed.

A few heads shook in disbelief.

"He should've sent us a few more Exorcists!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **I wrote the scene in Chapter 14: Komlin-110 under the assumption that anything Miranda allows to enter Time Out can enter the shield.**

 **Komlin-110 is named for the title of the fanfiction.**


	15. Emergency Supplies

_**I try to post once a week but it looks like I've been falling behind. I'll try to be a little more consistent since I do have chapters finished. -Velvet**_

* * *

But lunch was exactly what Star and Allen needed, though some of the Finders obviously disagreed. Salivating, they dragged themselves over, cracked open a bento box apiece, and started chowing down as fast as they could.

"Just need to get my strength back," Star said around a mouthful.

"Good, so good! Jeryy is a godsend!" Allen said tearfully as he scarfed at the rice in his box.

"Hey, you, Finders!" Kanda ordered. "Get these people out of here!"

Akuma still swarmed the area like a cloud of flies. Star paused in her eating to avoid choking, "Go into those ruins and Miranda go with them," she said.

"I can keep it up a little longer!" Miranda said. She held her Innocence steady but the strain was starting to show as she began shaking from exertion.

"We'll cover you, Miranda," Lavi said.

"We'll help," Allen said, still eating at the speed of light.

"Take the supplies and go," Kanda said coolly. He cut down an Akuma that was charging at him. "Short Stack is useless if he's working on an empty stomach anyway. Looks like Krory and Johannes are cut from the same cloth. You three go with them."

Star stammered but she was hurting so bad from the hunger that she couldn't muster a reply to Kanda's jabs so she just kept eating. Allen didn't even bite back at getting called "short stack".

"You might be right, Kanda, but I'll be fine," Krory said though he looked at the stacks of bento boxes longingly. "Akuma blood is all I need for the moment, I can keep fighting." With that, he launched himself back into the fight, grabbing an Akuma and sinking his fangs into the nearest vulnerable spot.

Allen had gotten just enough strength back to argue by now.

"We're not going to sit over there eating while everyone else is fighting this many—"

"I said you're useless like this, stupid Short Stack!" Kanda snapped. "So get full and get back here fast!"

The fighting was getting heavier and Miranda couldn't hold her shield up for much longer so they stopped arguing. The moment Miranda dropped her Time Out, they got going. Eating frantically the whole way, Allen and Star raced in a desperate scramble with Miranda, some of the Finders, Komlin-110, and the townspeople through the trees at the edge of the field and into the Myre ruins.

As they made their way inside, the sounds of the fight softened a little. Star stuffed teriyaki chicken into her mouth with a pair of chop sticks and studied the damaged buildings. Some of the damage was consistent with large weapon blasts.

"Obviously the villagers never tried to build here again or repair the damage. Do you think this place was attacked by Akuma at some point?" Allen mused as they walked further inside.

"Humans could've caused this damage themselves," someone said.

"That's true."

They found the most sheltered, undamaged structure and settled down inside. As the people who had gone missing from Myre and Hayden became conscious again, Allen and Star reassured them, offering them food and water, while Miranda rested. Afterward, the two Exorcists finished off over half of Komlin's emergency supplies, regaining some of their strength, and briefly resting in a nearby room. Allen sat on a collapsed frame across the moth-eaten bed Star had claimed first.

Outside, nightfall arrived. Moonlight shone in through the broken windows of the building.

Something crawled across Star's hand. Something crawled across her right foot and she tensed. The light buggy scratching of insects piqued her ears. _I'd know that sound anywhere… it's roaches!_ Angry and disgusted, she went berserk and started stomping and slapping until she was sure that whatever had trespassed on her person was dead or incapacitated.

"Hey, calm down, Star. It's just a bug," Allen said. She had the feeling that though she hadn't noticed he'd had to repeat himself.

Star straightened her uniform and wiped her hands repeatedly on her skirt.

"Sorry... That must've been unladylike. "

"I wouldn't say that. It startled me at the very least," he said kindly.

"I don't like bugs in my personal space." She added, embarrassed, "I lived in kind of a roach motel growing up." Star shook herself, saying quickly, "Sorry, I'm oversharing—"

But Allen stopped her.

"Not at all. Trust me, I know a thing or two about bugs and unpleasant living spaces. I've dealt with plenty traveling with Mana and during my training with Master Cross. Mana was my foster father, by the way."

Star smiled a little. _I know,_ she thought. _He hasn't led a charmed life either, has he._

Allen started to smile too.

"What?"

"Nothing," she shook her head. Having flown off in a startled flapping when Star began her crazed extermination, Gaia returned from her orbit near the cracked ceiling and settled back down on top of Star's head.

"Star," Allen said. "Your Innocence…you see the souls of Akuma, too, don't you."

"Yes. But not like you. I can see them at will. Your left eye doesn't give you a choice. Like an alarm someone else programmed. I take my glasses off and the world is all rosy again. As rosy as it gets anyway."

"You already knew about the Blank Town's Innocence. Why do the three of you already know?" Allen asked.

Star sighed.

"Didn't you think it was strange how Jump and Mahoja were able to go inside of the Blank Town? They weren't effected like the missing townspeople even though they're not Exorcists."

Allen nodded. "I did. In the Rewinding Town, only a Noah and other Accommodators could enter the space effected by Miranda's Innocence. That should hold true for the Blank Town, too, but Mahoja walked right in like it was nothing. And Jump was obviously unaffected by it."

"They aren't…like other Finders. They're different Allen…and so am I."

"What are you saying, Star?"

"The Innocence inside the Blank Town…it's mine—"

Gaia's radio crackled.

"The Akuma are closing in on the abandoned area-Allen, Star!"

Kanda said, "Short Stack, Johannes-finish stuffing your faces and get your asses out here! We're on."

After taking the frightened townspeople deeper in to the building with a few Finders and telling them to stay there until someone came to get them, they joined the other Exorcists outside. The cluster of Finders hung back, their shielding devices at the ready, defending the building with Komlin-110. Mahoja and Jump, however, stuck close to Star.

While the Exorcists furiously battled the remaining Akuma that had closed in on the area, several shadowed figures appeared. Then announced themselves.

"It's Allen!" Road Kamelot in her doll form piped from the shoulder of the Millennium Earl, waving.

"Noah," Allen said, activating Crown Clown.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I'm writing as much of the story in hyperbolic anime style and imagery as possible. It's been fun.**

 **The Wikia for D. Gray-Man spells Jerry like "Jeryy". I kind of like it that way even if it's meant to be spelled the other way (and may in fact a typo on the Wikia or a mistranslation) so I used that spelling in the story.**


	16. The Noah & the Closed Book

At the arrival of the Noah, Star immediately activated Parasite Eve in it's Level 2 form. No sooner than she had, a hard blow sent her crashing at light speed through the trees.

"STAR!" Mahoja and Jump shouted.

She was aware of flying off the cliff of a ravine before she slammed into the rock wall opposite it.

After a moment of lying stunned in the dark underneath the smashed rocks, she heard a muffled voice.

"Are you coming out of there or not, Exorcist? I know the little love tap I gave you didn't do you in."

It took a moment to dig herself out of the ravine wall. The white-cloaked intruder that she'd ejected from inside the Blank Town stood on air in front of her in the night. _Damn it,_ Star thought. _Hitting me that hard…_ At least the voice that came from under the hood was attractive.

"About time you came out of your hidey-hole there, rat. That was for the kick you gave me earlier."

"So you're a Noah," Star grunted, pulling herself out of the last of the rubble.

The Noah made to grab her but the flames of Innocence rising off her armor like an aura flared defensively, stopping him in his tracks. Flying above him, Star wagged her finger.

"Ah-ah. Very smart of you to think twice about touching me. In this form, even my lightest touch radiates the power of Innocence so intensely even the slightest graze can deliver devastating damage. And I also gain further enhanced flight, speed, and strength."

Star flew down to the other Exorcists, who had made it to her location. She breathed in hard gusts, her exertion visible to those around her even inside Parasite Eve's armor.

"That's some Innocence you've got there," the cloaked Noah said.

"Hmph," Star shrugged, brow ticking up.

"The Millennium Earl!" Lenalee said.

The Millennium Earl stood on a cliff overlooking the ravine. He was surrounded by Akuma and a few choice Noah. He was a rotund figure with the ghastly grinning face of an oni but dressed in a clownish top hat, spectacles, and yellow double-breasted suit coat.

"Good evening, Exorcists," said the Earl. "We heard that you think this new Exorcist has The Heart. Of course I can't just ignore that."

"You there. Newbie."

Star looked up and squinted at the Noah who had spoken. "Huh?"

Dressed in white like the others, he had light-colored hair, a long trailing bandanna around his head, and an extra set of eyes on his forehead.

"You are like a book that's closed very tightly. How are you evading the effects of my powers, Exorcist?" said Wisely, the Fifth Apostle and the Noah of Wisdom.

"None of your business, nosy."

Star abruptly dispelled the armor covering her face. Among the Noah present, she recognized Wisely Kamelot, Mercym, Sheril Kamelot, Tyki Mikk, and little doll-Road.

As she got a closer look at them, Star's nose flared wide open with her suddenly heated breaths.

 _Oh my god…not a bad-looking one in the bunch! I mean, I don't miss Skinn Bolic and there's certainly ones I find more attractive than others but my, my, my…_ Star's gaze raced between Tyki and Sheril.

"What?" Sheril said, raising an eyebrow as he noticed her avid ogling at him and his brother.

"Strike!" Star said, grinning broadly, giving a huge thumbs up as hearts fluttered to life around her while she continued goggling them.

"Stop fantasizing and get back in the fight, Johannes!" Kanda snapped.

She wiped her sudden nosebleed but stopped the gawking, heavy breaths, and lusty staring.

"Right, sorry."

"Star is their target," Allen rallied.

Jump and Mahoja threw up their Finder talisman shields, completely destroying Level 1 and Level 2 Akuma in blazes of gold, red, and green light. Star joined the fight but soon found herself squaring off with Tyki Mikk, the Third Apostle and the Noah of Pleasure. They faced each other in mid-air once more and she couldn't help but admire his beauty.

 _Mmmm…I don't want to wreck that pretty face,_ she thought. _But I should pay him back for kicking me. Even though I started it back in the Blank Town…_

"Why are you staring at me?" Tyki asked dryly. "Better yet, tell me: Are you the Heart that our Lord Millennium seeks, girl?"

His Noah memory showed on his face, diminishing his handsomeness and making him look like a scary freak.

Star stared at him without answering, distaste etching her features.

Face returning to normal, Tyki demanded, "Hey—answer me, girl! I'm talking to you!"

She folded her arms over her chest and laughed coolly with a seductive look from beneath her lashes and her chin between her thumb and index finger.

"A certain scariness or rather intensity to a man is deliciously thrilling. But that face, Tyki,lover," she drawled, shaking her head, "it destroys your gentlemanly facade completely instead of only complementing it with a threatening sexiness."

Tyki's mouth dropped opened. "Ah?"

"I said tone that face down a little. Your inner Noah is scaring the children."

"What 'children'!" everyone shouted up at her.

"Excuse me?" Tyki said, a little indignant and very much disbelieving.

"You're all so naive!" After shouting a high, snooty laugh, Star picked her nose and flicked a booger at all of them. She gave Tyki Mikk another lusty look. "Sexy is as sexy does."

"What dirty thoughts are you even thinking, Star…?" Allen said, eyes shadowed in a comical dismay. Lavi nodded with a similar expression, his face red, saying, "Uh-huh…" while Kanda blushed and made a choked noise with the others.

"Tyki, Star's flirting with you, silly!" Road piped.

"I am not flirting. Simply voicing a statement of fact, Road."

"Lord Millennium, who is this strange woman?" Tyki asked.

"I have no idea actually," said Millennium Earl curiously, "but I'm sure the Order has obtained a powerful Innocence that has every chance of being The Heart. Pin her down and grab her. If you can't, just kill her."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I didn't want Jump and Mahoja's Finder equipment to destroy Akuma's souls rather than releasing them. I figured the only way around this issue was to make it so their power is an extension of Star's as an Exoricist and them sharing the power of the [bLaNk].**


	17. Captured Star

"Tell me your name, Exorcist," Tyki said.

She winked at him. "Its Star Johannes, beautiful. I already know your name, Tyki Mikk. Now don't make me break that pretty face."

"Tyki-pon," said Earl.

"Lord Millennium, I've asked you not to call me that," Tyki said.

The Earl laughed indulgently. "I'll go first after all," he said. He aimed a sweeping, wide-range dark matter blast at the Order's team. Star had to turn her eyes away from the sharp, bright violet light.

"Miranda!" Lenalee called.

"I don't think I can get the shield up in time!" Miranda cried. Her hands shook and tightened on the Time Record as she tried frantically to raise enough power to protect everyone.

Shouts sounded as the attack struck ground in the ravine, breaking the rock under their feet.

As the dust and debris cleared, the Millennium Earl stared down at the destruction, trying to gauge the effects of his handiwork. Something translucent and red flashed below.

"There she is," the Earl said.

Standing legs braced apart and hands out, Star's red and gold shield was seen briefly around Miranda's green Time Out and the Order team before vanishing.

With a third of her armor destroyed and unable to manifest itself at her current power level, Star lowered her raised arms. Her legs shooks so badly she fell to her knees. She and Miranda collapsed to the shattered ground, teammates gathering around them.

Allen knelt beside Miranda and helped her into a sitting position while Lenalee helped Star.

"Star, you can create a shield, too. How did you help Miranda protect us like that?"

"I told you," Star croaked, "I can manifest weapons and other things made of Innocence by forcing my Innocence emanate from inside my body. So I can create barriers the same way… but they last for even less time than Miranda's Time Out. And this," she drew a ragged breath, "is the price." Star huddled inside her uniform, shrunken and barely able to move.

Angry and worried, Mahoja chastised her, uncaring if the others heard at this point.

"You're not invincible, Star so stop acting like your life doesn't matter! Even for the Exiled Ones of the Bookman Clan, some rules still apply to us! We still die, albeit under specific circumstances."

"But…" Star started to speak but her body floated up and then away from Lenalee, Jump, and Mahoja, moving on it's own.

"Star!" Jump and Mahoja rushed to their feet chased after her as she was propelled away from them by an invisible force.

"I can't move!" she cried.

Out of the reach of her friends near the foot of the Earl's cliff, Star slammed into the ground. There was a bending in her bones as if her limbs were threatening to break but it stopped a second later.

"That move just now should've broken your legs and arms," Sheril said, eyebrow raised. He was sitting on a rock on the Earl's left side, legs crossed.

Lifting her head though she was shaking and terribly weakened, Star mustered up some indignation and shook her fist at him.

She griped noisily, "You really just tried to kill me, didn't you Sheril Kamelot! How dare you!"

"Not exactly," Sheril said casually, "just incapacitate you. To resist the power of Noah's Desires… What are you exactly?"

Coolly, Star said, "The best you can do is temporarily immobilize me, Desires. You may be able to effect me somewhat but otherwise your power holds no real sway over me."

"Whatever she is, it looks like she's still got some spunk," said Tyki, approaching the Noah, walking across the night sky.

"I agree." To Star, the Earl said, "That's a powerful shielding ability you used there but it sure has a dire price."

"Let's see if she can do it again, Lord Millennium," Wisely said glibly.

"Let's," grinned the Earl delightedly.

The Earl aimed blasts of dark matter at the Exorcists from both hands.

"NO!" With the last of her strength, Star threw another shield around Krory, Lenalee, Allen, Lavi, Bookman, Kanda, Mahoja, and Jump.

 _Pretty good for someone who's about to pass out if I do say so myself,_ she thought. Out of power, her face dropped into the dirt. Her armor vanished, leaving her dressed only in her battered uniform.

"Go Gaia!" Mahoja said over the roar of the attack coming at them.

In a flash of gold, Gaia rushed to Star's side. She transformed into the form of a golden African goddess. Clothed in a gold and rainbow-colored peplos-like wrap, Gaia raised it's rainbow-feathered wings. A gilded shield rose around Star, protecting her from the dark matter blast. But, under the extreme violence and pressure of the Earl's attack, Gaia shattered into pieces.

In the aftermath, the Exorcist lay saved (thanks to Star's shield) but barely conscious on the broken ground. Those who were just barely conscious watched as Mercym leapt down from cliff. He came to stand over Star's unmoving form.

"Bring her. We're taking her back to the Ark," said the Millennium, Earl as he opened a gate behind them.

Mercym bent and picked Star up, tucking her against him with his arm around her waist.

"Let me go…" She hung like a rag doll in Mercym's grip. _Damn it, I can barely lift my head…_

A few yards away, Mahoja was trying to stay conscious, watching the Noah walk away with Star. She whispered, "Gaia…please…"

Gaia reformed from shattered bits and pieces into her golem form. Shaking out her wings, she zipped in a flash underneath Star's loose jacket.

* * *

 **Author's Note** **:**  
 **Gaia can transform her body. However, if she is destroyed while in an altered form she cannot resume another form until she fully regenerates. Gaia looks like Mahoja in her solid gold goddess form only with very long locs with gold and rainbow wings and clothes.**


	18. Lord Millennium's Decision

The Noah stared down at Star like a troublesome bug they'd caught.

"You're being so congenial because you've got a little crush on Tyki Mikk," Wisely teased.

"He's a monster. What would I want with something like him," Star grumped. She crossed her arms over her chest though barely able to lift them.

"Hey," said Tyki. "I'm standing right here."

"Oh don't pretend," Wisely said with a knowing look. "I might not be able to read you thoroughly but I can sense this much from you."

With a blank expression that hid the petulant and somewhat angry look in her eyes, Star raised her hand palm-up and flicked her thumb and middle finger at Wisely, like she was kicking a marble away from her.

Breaking glass sounded as the "third eye" in the center of Wisely's forehead cracked.

Wisely screamed and crumpled to the ground. Rolling around and howling in pain, he clutched his forehead.

"Read that, freak," Star said.

"You shattered Wisely's forehead!" Road said. "How heartless, Star! Now you went and triggered his chronic migraines again." ** _**_** Then she hummed curiously, "Hm…".

"What is it, Road?" Sheril said, noting his daughter's adorable pensive expression.

"Nothing. I'm just getting a strange sense of deja vu all of a sudden…"

"Let's go everyone," said the Earl.

"What about the rest of them?" Sheril asked.

"Leave 'em with the Akuma. We've got this one."

Of course, Road protested as the Earl went through the gate.

"Aw, I didn't get to play with Allen!"

Sheril said something to Road but the voices of the Noah came and went, rising and lowering in volume, and her vision finally faded into black. Star saw nothing in that darkness and heard only her own thoughts for a long, long moment.

 _Sooner or later you're going to have to get up. Break out of here and get back to the mission. You know that. If you don't, Allen's world is through. But…if it disappears…I can disappear right along with it…. Hmph,_ she thought. _How selfish…_

She became conscious in a black room with no explainable source of light other than dozens of floating candles. In the psychokinetic grip of the Desires, Star hung a two feet off the floor above a stone floor, arms out. The only other thing in the room besides the candles, the Noah, and herself was a large throne chair done in purple velvet. And, standing in front of her…

The Millennium Earl. Ringmaster of the biggest, vilest three-ring shit show of evil that this universe has to offer.

"Seems the Black Order wants to keep you around, Star Johannes. That can't happen," the Earl said through those big teeth in that perpetually grinning face.

Star moaned. _My body feels like its dying…if I don't eat soon…._ Her stomach gurgled. _At the very least every Noah in this place is going to hear about it._ Star shrugged at the Earl.

"Why? It's not like I can kill you. The worst I can do is take out a couple hundred thousand Akuma and-"

The Earl gripped her by the throat, squeezing her windpipe and cutting off her voice.

"Couple hundred thousand? You don't say." His eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "As if that's nothing. Don't get in my way or I'll have to be a bit quicker about finding a way to get rid of you."

Star clawed at the Earl's sleeve to no avail.

"Let…go…."

"The Order wants to increase the resonance of your Innocence with all the rest. Not only do they suspect that your special Innocence might be

The Heart, they see it as a nice and handy wide-range Akuma bug spray. And even if it's not The Heart and merely a special type, they intend to make you a permanent fixture in the Order and make use of that annoying and indestructible Innocence of yours. As I said, I can't have that."

He released her neck and Star pulled in great drags of air.

When Star was able to speak again, she raised expressionless eyes to the Earl's. Her voice matched her gaze.

"I'll tell you everything then."

"Oh really."

She nodded, looking him right in the eyes.

"Really."

"Oh do tell, Exorcist," welcomed the Earl. His curiosity was obviously piqued.

Star concentrated. She found a tiny bit of power inside of herself and moved her arms, breaking free of the hold of the Desires. Gracefully, she flipped backwards high into the fathomless darkness where there should have been a ceiling. After drifting onto the throne seat across the room, she crossed her legs and got comfortable. Leaned casually on one of the arms and laced her fingers.

Stunned, Sheril said, "What! How did she-"

The Noah moved in on her but the Earl held up a hand.

"Let her go."

"That's probably all she can manage anyway. In her condition," Wisely said.

And he was right but Star wasn't going to tell them that.

"First of all: I'm not The Heart. My Innocence is, so to speak, not a part of your world. So you cannot destroy it and you cannot destroy me. And conversely…I cannot destroy you. But I can hurt you. A LOT."

"I don't suppose you'd know anything about the Akuma inside that white bubble, would you. I'm dying to know what its all about," the Earl said with that chuckle of his.

"Its not your army, Earl. That evil legion belongs to another."

"Interesting. Then whose army is it? Because last I checked, I run the Akuma game around here."

Star put a finger to her lips.

"Bookman secrets. And that's where the gravy train stops, Earl. I got nothing else for you. Besides, I only know what the Creator shows me.

So I probably don't know much more than you do."

"Is that so? Then what good are you to me?"

The Millennium Earl _could_ kill her if he really tried, in spite of what she'd just told the Noah. She thought of Jump and Mahoja waiting for her. _Best not to provoke him._ Star smiled an empty, charming smile.

"I'm good company. So let's not make this unpleasant."

The Earl chuckled again. Amused with her.

"Hm… Fine. Looks like you're a, uh, 'guest' here with the Noah Family until I do figure out what to do with you, Exorcist Star Johannes."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 ****A reference to _DGM Hallow_ when Allen triggers Wisely's migraines by headbutting Yu Kanda while the two of them and Road are under the influence of Wisely's power. Road's dialogue to Star is almost verbatim to what she says to Allen in _Hallow_.**


	19. Interlude

_**A little long. Finally getting around to Star and Tyki here. Nothing Rated M yet.**_

 _ **Still trying to decide whether I will publish the M-rated material as a separate story or not because most of the story is perfectly Rated T. -Velvet  
**_

* * *

Star was escorted into a stone chamber that looked like dungeon tower. Sunlight even poured through the windows on the opposite the wall she was chained to though she was betting it wasn't natural light.

The glossy, blackish purple manacles and shackles on her wrists and ankles radiated dark matter. The toxic energy further weakened her so they were likely made of the stuff.

At least there were walls around her this time. This chamber seemed pretty solid compared to the open-air darkness of the room with the throne chair where she had explained everything to the Noah. The only thing that made it less like a dungeon was the bed, the little breakfast table, and the window.

The door to her prison opened. Tyki Mikk strode in. He was dressed in gloves, a black top hat, and formal wear that tailor fit his fine physique. Sitting pretty. The only thing out of place was the silver serving tray balanced on one hand. The heels of his shined shoes snapped on the floor as he approached her.

Glaring at him Star imagine what he might say first.

 _Good evening, defenseless-Exorcist-that-we'll-dispose-of-at-the-drop-of-a-pin._

Tyki looked every bit the gentlemen he pretended to be. _Great. He looks gorgeous and I look like crap. Damn him._

She was sitting on the floor. Totally propping herself up only by the strength of the heavy chair at the table. Her chains were long enough for her to go lay in the bed if she wanted. The thing was Star hadn't made it over there to the bed though she had tried a little while ago. How was she going to sleep with the chains pumping poison into her via lethal dark matter radiation anyway?

Stopping a few feet from her, Tyki eyed her rumpled clothes and bruised face. Coming to tableside next to her, he set the serving tray on the down and took off his hat. He stood back again to look at her as he spoke.

"Sheril was here. What did you two…'talk' about?"

"None of your business." Star straightened her clothes.

"I see. He came around to 'play' with you a bit. Obviously you _can_ be hurt a little."

Star glared at him.

"I liked General Yeeger very much. Don't you think it's creepy and disgusting that you're giving that little boy 'souvenirs' from your kills? I don't think he'd like it if he knew where the buttons came from. Or that you're a serial killer."

Surprise widened Tyki's eyes for an instant. Then his expression instantly turned cold and shuttered at her mention of the little human boy who knew him as Tyki Mikk, miner and drifter. Eeez did not know him as Joyd, the Noah of Pleasure and enemy of the rest of humankind.

"That is none of your concern," Tyki said.

But Star wasn't through. "The Noah of Pleasure. So your only pleasure is in killing and maiming. How disappointing."

"Yet you're here because of me."

Star shrugged. "That so?" Not giving him the satisfaction, she pushed herself to her feet by sheer force of will.

"Are you saying Wisely is wrong?" Tyki laughed disbelievingly.

She scoffed and had the audacity to still be looking him in the face.

"You Noah are like a bunch of gossiping school kids. Don't be so arrogant. I do have bigger things to do than you." Which wasn't untrue.

She wasn't here for a date or an interlude with an enemy. She needed to keep her head on straight.

Turning, Star walked back to the far side of the room…not making it as Tyki grabbed her arm and swung her around roughly. In her weakened state and thinned body, she thought she felt the bone in her arm bend a little in his hard grasp. Most of what he was grabbing was her uniform jacket she'd lost so much of her body's weight and fullness.

"You might want to remember where you are," Tyki said. "Or would you prefer Sheril pay you another visit?"

Wishing he hadn't done the things he'd done, Star met his eye with as much attitude as she could. Tyki released her and she stumbled backwards, back to the wall she was chained to. Star glared at him. All the while eyeing as much of him as she could.

"When I first saw you, I thought it would be nice to spend time with someone so down to earth yet so 'refined'. Powerful. Beautiful and elegant—"

Those shining golden eyes cut her a cynical look. Tyki ran his finger along the rim of his hat. Perfectly aware of how attractive he was.

"'Spend time' with me? Is that what you wanted to do?"

 _Ignore him. Ignore him,_ Star sang in her head while her mouth kept working.

"—but you're just a coldblooded monster."

"No need for name-calling, exorcist."

"You tortured and murdered General Yeeger." Star's eyes stung. Kind, powerful, honorable, and wise, General Yeeger was someone she had always wanted to meet and this Noah had taken him out of the world. "Daisya Barry. The Socalo team. God only knows who else. You backed Suman Dark into a corner. Allen saved him and he might have survived if your little flesh-eating pests hadn't devoured him from the inside out-"

Star gasped. Tyki was standing right in front of her. Bare inches away. With that pristine white-gloved hand, he touched her cheek. His fingers smoothed down her jaw. When the tip of one finger touched the corner of her mouth, her lips parted.

"You finally get to be alone with me and that's all you have to say?" His voice was mocking but it was a question.

Star jerked her jaw out of his hand. She turned her face away, refusing to look at him.

Tyki leaned even closer. She felt his warm breath on her skin and the threat of satiny lips. He spoke in a low, soft voice.

"Now now. Don't be that way. The buttons and Eeez. Yeeger and all the rest. It seems you already knew about my 'activities' before we met. Don't get gloomy and reticent on me now."

"Fan-girling over a sadistic evil murderer. I don't know what I was thinking," Star muttered.

"Is that all I am," he raised a black eyebrow.

"I don't care what you are. Not anymore."

Looking thoughtful he pulled away an inch or so. Despising the effect he had on her, Star took that moment to breathe in and out.

"You're broken up over the Suman guy and the general the most, aren't you?"

That little comment earned him another glare.

"You used Suman. Just like the Order did. You as good as killed him with your own hands. He wanted to live. He wanted to see his family again…his daughter…."

Tyki frowned then, like he was confused.

"He was my enemy."

"You are cruel Tyki…beautiful and ugly," Star whispered quietly before refusing to speak to him again.

More confused, Tyki pulled away. Since she refused to be a good sport, he was obviously done with his fun for now. He gestured at the covered tray on the table with his top hat as he left.

"Eat that, girl" Tyki said. "You look like you're at death's door."


	20. Tyki-pon's Pet

_**It's kind of a long one. -Velvet**_

* * *

Sir Tyki Mikk didn't bother to announce his arrival. Looking fine and elegant in tails and top hat, he simply walked through the locked door of Star's cell, saying—

"Get up. Put this on." Heels sounding on the stone floor, he walked over to the table and laid a puff of long fabric on the chair. At first, Star ignored him but then she noticed that the fabric was a very expensive-looking gown and a cloak.

Tyki stared at the untouched food on the table.

"You look like a skeleton." He tipped the plate at her by its edge, bunching the table cloth, as he slid it in her direction. He let it drop with a sound _clunk_. "Eat something."

"I'm not hungry. Go away."

"What fun would it be for me if I did that? And what kind of host would I be if if I just let my guest go achingly hungry without protest?"

Against the wall, Star forced herself into a sitting position.

"So you're just here to amuse yourself. At my expense," she said.

Tyki spread his arms. "Of course I am. An Exorcist desiring a Noah? That has to be amusing to prove that there's sanity left in the world. Now, let's get out of here. Hurry, come on, get those skin and bones up, girl. We're leaving."

The thing Star was worried about was if the Noah Family tried really, really hard to kill her, they'd likely succeed. She'd play along.

Until she had her escape planned.

"At least put the cloak on over that ghastly uniform," Tyki said, tossing it over to her.

* * *

The gate let them out in a very clean alley off a busy European street on the side of a large building. Wearing the fine, flowing cloak over her battered Exorcist uniform, Star followed Tyki down the alley. He was carrying the gown in a long staid pink box under his arm. Obviously, it was box the garment had come in and she'd watching fold it meticulously and return in to it's confines after she refused to change into it.

They turned right around the corner and walked along the side of a huge luxurious hotel. Star was surprised when they went inside.

Tyki spoke with the attendant at the highly polished bronze and marble front desk. Shortly after, another liveried person came out and greeted them by sweeping a deep bow.

"Lord Tyki Mikk, we are so very honored to have you and your guest this evening. Please follow me," said the concierge. He escorted them to a secluded alcove in the shining, lavishly furnished dining hall. Inside of the alcove, there was another heavy curtain at the back instead of a wall. Star heard a quiet sea of murmuring on the other side. The dress box was laid on a chair against the wall next to the first curtains.

"The Earl just lets you guys splurge at fancy hotels like this?"

"Money is no object," Tyki waved a hand absently.

"There's no need for this," Star said. She looked around and tried to ogle the clean, sparkling place that smelled like money and privilege. "I preferred the dungeon tower room. It was more honest." _I refuse to act like a tourist,_ she thought. It was hard, when she was prone to getting excited in places like this.

"Enjoy the niceties without such a fuss," he said.

"I'm not fussing, Noah."

Food was brought to them and it smelled delicious but Star wasn't in the mood for anything. Not escaping. Not eating though her body and Innocence was hungry. Tyki ate while she watched. After listlessly observing his flawless table manners for a few minutes, she waved her finger at the box on the chair.

"That gown isn't going to fit me when I'm done eating." If I eat at all. Could she trust anything he offered her?

Besides if she ate, she'd become a threat again. _This Noah might try to kill me at the first sign of my Innocence regaining its power… And if my Innocence regains its power…_

Star would hasten the end of her time in this world.

"I got several sizes in range for, shall we say, 'curvy' women, like yourself."

"You managed to find dresses in my size?" Energy flagging even further, she forced herself to give him the most sardonic look she could muster.

Tyki shrugged. "Fat people need clothes, too. Just ask Lord Millennium."

"I am _not_ the shape of big balloon dressed in a festooned top hat nor do I have the face of a deranged, demonic clown for a mug." It seemed pointless to argue about the fat part or needing clothes. _Gahhh, I don't even have it in me right now to care how he sees me!_ Star thought.

"My apologies, my lady." Yet Tyki still seemed amused by something. "You should have seen the seamstress's face."

* * *

[ ** _Several hours ago  
_** At the seamstresses shop

 _The seamstress stood by gaping as Tyki selected several dresses that the European standard considered "hefty" sizes. Without so much as batting an eyelash, he had the seamstress's shop girl pull the gowns and box them for him._

 _Her gowns were not things paupers could afford but this gentlemen dressed so finely could certainly afford them. It wouldn't do to allow him to deliver dresses from her shop to his wife, acquaintances, or family members that didn't fit or would come off as…unflattering. Naturally, the seamstress assumed that the gentleman's choice in size was mistaken and came to his aid._

 _The seamstress edged forward and stood a step behind and beside him as he continued to look through the dresses with the shop girl attending him._

 _"Pardon, sir. I am the proprietor of this establishment and I hope that my selections meet with your pleasure and approval."_

 _"They'll do," said Tyki._

 _Not wanting to seem pushy, the seamstress delicately hazarded a guess as to the reason behind the mystery of the measurements of the gowns he was choosing. "Is she with child, perhaps? Oh my good sir, are you and your wife expecting? The maternity gowns are—"_

 _"Not at all, madame. My…friend isn't with child."_

 _The seamstress frowned in utter confusion._

 _"Are you expecting your lady friend to…fill out soon_ (read: gain weight real quick like a swollen balloon) _? These are our largest sizes," said the seamstress._

 _"Very soon, in fact, madame," Tyki replied cordially. "As soon as I feed her..."]_

* * *

"Ha ha ha," Star said dryly, chin resting on the heel of her hand. "I can only imagine how that must have gone. Glad I wasn't there."

"It was a humorous diversion. Shopping for lady's garments," Tyki said.

Tyki finished his meal and rose. He parted the curtain on the back wall with the back of his gloved hand and stepped through. Star peered beyond the high-backed chair there, over the alcove wall, and out into the red rows of a theater. The sounds Star had heard was the opera's formally clad audience. From way up here in Tyki's theater box, they were all fine suits, fancy gowns, coiffed hair, and sparkling jewels.

"If you won't eat then come here. Watch the opera."

"There's only one chair," Star said. Silently, Tyki took off his hat, coat, and gloves. Then he removed his ascot and unbuttoned his shirt. "And you just got awfully casual in dress for someone who puts on such grand airs."

To which she got no reply. Tyki just sat down in the alcove's grand butt palace and crossed his legs, ankle over knee.

Star frowned at him then glared. Gripping the heavy chair she'd been sitting in by it's arm and back, she drug it from the table. Star's thin arms shook and strained. There was still food on the table and she was looking at it now while she was sweating from exertion.

"If opera isn't to your liking, we could go to the ballroom for a few turns."

"Ha," Star panted. "Yeah, I'll be doing a lot of dancing in my current condition. Besides, I don't dance."

"Then come here."

"No." She huffed in pain with every breath as she stood beside the chair she'd managed to drag into near his own. Star shoved the cloak she still wore off her arms.

Tyki grabbed her around the waist and yanked her into his lap. The cloak slipped off as Star fought to break Tyki's hold on her arms. His hard touch was like steel and bruising in her current state. Tussling with him wasn't easing the pain.

"Let me go."

By the delighted and annoying grin on his face, Tyki relished in her fighting against his body. But soon he grew impatient when she wouldn't hold still in his arms.

"Stop struggling." When Star turned into his body and kneed him in the ribs, Tyki grunted. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Stop. Or I Will. Rip. Out. Your. Heart. Understand me, girl?"

Star slapped him. Hard. For an instant, Tyki was stunned, eyes wide, face turned in the direction the force of her blow had sent it. Star hauled her hand back and swung again but he grabbed her firmly arm before she closed in.

"How many more times were you going to hit me?" Though his tone vaguely suggested he was amused again, his eyes waited for a serious answer, which Star gave him.

Star caught her breath. She rattled off—

"One for the general. Daisya was a rude little blowhard but one for him too. One each for Nine's team. One for Allen's arm and almost killing him. One for what you did to Lenalee in Edo. One for each of the—"

Bowing his head in disbelief, Tyki let go of her arm, leaned on the armrest, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Alright, alright, alright."

"No, because I can go on—"

"I get it."

Feeling too comfortable sitting on him, Star rolled off his lap onto the floor. On a sudden rush of strength and power, she propelled herself away and skated in a low crouch toward the alcove wall.

Tyki stood quickly, tensing for a fight.

"Innocence, activate!" The phantasmal red and gold flames of her Innocence surrounded her. But it was only for an instant before the power flickered weakly and died. Star's heart seized tightly in her chest, drawing a breathless gasp. She collapsed onto her hands and knees.

Standing beside his chair Tyki relaxed and straightened. With any threat of attack gone, he stared down at her remorselessly.

"Looks like you still can't use your Innocence, pet. I'll bet you burn your body weight to fuel that Innocence of yours. So it has to be the boy's. You should have eaten earlier. You might have stood a chance."

"I take it by 'the boy' you mean Allen Walker." Star put a hand to her chest. Her view of the plush red carpeting faded in and out. _It's getting harder to stay conscious. Pushing my Innocence was a bad call…_

Dismissing the line of conversation, Tyki turned and walked back inside the alcove. He easily lifted the chair she had struggled to move that few feet into opera box and took it back to the table for two.

"Put on the dress. Then let's go back to the table. I'll have the concierge bring you a hot meal."

Star crawled over to the chair he had occupied, then stopped to catch her breath again.

"Why would you let me eat? You know how my Innocence works."

Over his shoulder, Tyki gave her the sweetest smile with the most devilish look of those golden eyes.

"Because I trust you to behave yourself," he said.


	21. The Noah of Pleasure

**There were some formatting errors and typos in the last two chapters. I think I got all of them—** ** _Velvet  
_**

* * *

Lord Tyki Mikk tried to remember the last time he'd been slapped.

 _Right. The boy._ In the bamboo forest in China… Allen Walker. Just as nasty a shock now as it had been that time.

Tyki gazed across a table covered in dishes of food, various pitchers of drink, and his own empty plate as Star reluctantly begin to eat. She was no longer able to hide her body's desperate hunger or her appetite, eating quickly but neatly and with gusto. As he watched, Tyki admitted that he did not understand this human. Human. Exorcist. Bookman. Whatever she was, she was different. Unusual. _And she wants me_ , he thought. Tyki had no doubt about Wisely's read of her. That curious little bit about her was strangely enough to pique his interest.

Locked inside him was 7000 years worth of Joyd's memories that his human ego refused to allow to consume him. What did it mean to be the Noah of Pleasure, the Third Apostle? His mind wasn't fully aware of it or capable of grasping his identity as the incarnation of Noah's Pleasure as long as his "white" side refused to vanish. But…

He'd decided. _As ludicrous as it sounds, I want to be her ideal of pleasure. Her ideal pleasure._ Tyki wanted to play along. Never doubting the role Star Johannes was giving him.

At least until Lord Millennium said otherwise.

 _She is an Exorcist after all. If the Earl wants the girl dead then I will obey him,_ Tyki thought. _But for the moment…I'll ply her and play the beau._

Tyki spoke, saying, "Whatever Sheril must have done to you, I am certain it was no way to treat a lady."

Star chewed and swallowed then said, "He certainly didn't like that 'some Exorcist scum is lusting after his beautiful little brother'. And I'm not a lady. Just a girl from the ghetto with a weird and surprisingly and somehow ultimately useless Innocence." She put down her fork and laced her fingers. "We don't need to pretend. I am a prisoner of the Millennium Earl and the Noah. No need to soften me up. Especially after I've already told the Earl everything."

She was ruining the fantasy. Hers and his. Tyki's eyes glowed. _But I can't help but admire her pragmatism even so._ She wasn't some dewy-eyed schoolgirl, consumed by some silly infatuation with him. From what Star Johannes had said before in the dungeon tower room, she thought that's what she was.

But Tyki knew the difference.

"The Earl didn't say I had to make you miserable. He only said I had to guard you."

"He didn't tell you to take to me to an expensive hotel for dinner, dancing, and theater either now did he."

Dryly, Tyki prompted, "And you're complaining because…" As Star gave him the look he deserved for that, he added, "Would you really rather be chained up back in the tower?"

After staring at him in puzzlement a moment, as if she was sure he was up to something and couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, Star shrugged. "I guess I'm won't complain then." Star picked up a small, delicious-smelling roasted bird on a skewer, opened wide, and stuck it in her pie hole. _NOM._ Stripped it bare to the bones and put the skeleton and skewer back on the plate. She picked up a plate of barbecued ribs.

"That shouldn't be attractive."

"An Innocence with a healthy appetite?"

"No, a woman who…" Shutting his mouth, Tyki shook his head and glanced away. Realizing he was in fact charmed.

"What?" Star raised an eyebrow and turned her head at him, holding back a tentative smile. She wanted to hear what he was going to say.

"Nothing."

"What is with you?"

"What do you mean?" Tyki hedged.

"Turning on the charm. Why are you being so friendly all of a sudden?" she asked.

Tyki scoffed. "'All of a sudden'? I've been a perfect gentlemen—"

Star narrowed her eyes at him.

"You didn't move my chair into the opera box and you manhandled me like you were going to have your way with me—"

 _Oh. That._ "Fine, I've been a gentlemen most of the time, given the circumstances. Somehow, from the first, you know me and I don't know you at all. Yet you flirted with me readily enough in our first fight. So for what I know of you, you're the one who's acting strange. Where did all that sauciness go?"

Star made a sound and pursed her lips.

"It left with my appetite and my Innocence after the Earl kicked my butt."

Tyki sent her a look. "The Earl isn't here now. Appetite's back. Your butt is bruised but safe."

Star's gaze strayed away from his. She grabbed her glass and slurped water nosily through her straw.

"There's gotta be a way to rekindle it. Right?" Tyki pressed.

"Is it? I don't know," Star replied reluctantly while meeting his gaze just as reluctantly.

"Answer me," Tyki demanded. He wanted to hear her say it.

Right then, Star looked him in the eye. "Maybe… Yes."

Excitement rushed briefly through Tyki. He nodded. "Good. That's good."

Abruptly, Tyki drummed his fingers on the table. He hated the tick but it broke his concentration on reading her expression. Grabbing his hat,

Tyki got up and briefly faced Star. She was the one watching him now.

"I must attend to some business. You know what I expect from you. So don't make our…cozy arrangements difficult."

* * *

 **Author's Note** **:**  
 **They had straws during DMC's time period, right? I don't have internet access while I'm finishing this chapter and I'll probably forget to look it up later.**

 **I'm not sure if they had barbecued ribs in Europe back then either but that's what I see Star putting in her mouth in my head. Maybe its because I'm an American Southerner, bbq ribs are a thing?**


	22. Lvellie's Crusade

Standing in front of Chief Komui's desk, Section Chief Reever Wenham scanned the file in his hands.

"'Joy calories', Chief?"

Komui sipped coffee from his usual mug and leaned back in his chair.

"Yes. Via the golems collecting data on her mission, Johnny and some of the scientists are studying Star's Innocence in action. That's what they're calling Parasite Eve's metabolic transformation of body mass into Innocence."

"I saw some of the footage," Reever said. "Her Innocence is very amazingly powerful. How does it work?"

"Well there's nothing wrong with enjoying food, and she certainly does, but Star eats as much as she does and gains weight rapidly for a reason it seems: her Innocence. Her power only works at critical point and point breaker level when she eats and gains weight out of pleasure and joy, not from necessity alone. It's also effected by her mood, attitude, and general mental-emotional state."

"Sir does that mean—?"

"Yes," Komui nodded. "I daresay if Star was the only Exorcist we had and she were to become depressed or lose her appetite then the Black Order would be annihilated in no time at all. Its the one drawback of her abilities. I thought it best not to tell her out of concern that it would effect her performance in the field. That's assuming she doesn't already know what we've only just discovered."

"I see. That is impressive," Reever said. "Star's Innocence is certainly one I'd like to study further."

"You're not alone in that." _And we could…if only we can protect Star from whatever Central has planned._ Komui put down his coffee and laced his fingers, brow furrowed grimly.

"And what about the survivors from the Hayden-Myre anomaly?" Reever asked.

"Komlin-110 and half an army of Finders is watching over them and supporting the Exorcists." Grimly, Komui reported, "Turns out that even with Star's powers everyone we sent with Star was needed since the Earl and several Noah made an appearance to destroy the Innocence inside of the anomaly. Thankfully, with the exception of Exorcist Johannes, our people have returned. None of them sustained life-threatening injuries. While they weren't able to retrieve the Innocence, the enemy didn't get it either."

Lenalee had stopped by to report before going to the infirmary. Komui stared down in his half-full mug. Though she was dirty and bruised from fighting, she had made him coffee as usual. And put in one earnest plea. Lenalee's voice echoed in Komui's head and in his mind he saw her anxious gaze glittering with tears.

 _The Earl and the Noah took Star, brother! We have to do something, please!_

But what could they do? There was no way Central was going to authorize this kind of rescue attempt. The Earl had come and collected Star himself and must be on the Black Ark by now or dead by now. Even if they could get the Exorcist back, the real threat to Star might very well be their own organization.

The door of Komui's office opened.

Director Lvellie marched into the room. Inspector Howard Link and a couple of CROWs strode in on his heels.

"Get Johannes back immediately!" the man snapped.

Reever looked from Komui to the Director, as if wondering if he should still be in the room, but didn't leave.

Keeping his face neutral, Komui thought, Somehow…Star might have managed to survive. If she did, she mustn't come back here. He had no idea what Central had planned for her, whether they planned to kill her or imprison her for experimentation or containment. Coming back might be as bad as being captured by the Noah.

"Director Lvellie, this is very sudden. You said that Exorcist Johannes wasn't any of our concern once her work here was concluded. Furthermore, Star has been captured by the enemy and likely killed. Will you risk more of the Order's resources to recapture her even with the likely chance that she is dead."

But Lvellie was still ranting about the abilities of Star and the Finders from Central.

"And those shields obliterated Level 1 and Level 2 Akuma and fully restrained Level 3 and Level 4. With Innocence resonating the same energy as Parasite Eve. I want to know how and I want to know why right now."

"We've examined their shields and equipment repeatedly since their return to Headquarters," Komui said. "They're no different from our standard issue."

"Interrogate the two Finders again then!" Lvellie snapped. "There is something they're not telling us. We need this military advantage. Imagine what the Order can do to with an Innocence that Finders can draw power from and power their weapons with. Do it, Chief Lee."

Keeping his desperation out of his voice, Komui reasoned again, "Director Lvellie, you said that Johannes doesn't matter. Why now the change of heart?"

Lvellie's expression grew guarded. "I've changed my mind. And Central agrees. Johannes will become a permanent part of this world and the Black Order as an Exorcist."

"How much does Central know about all of this? And what do you mean, 'a permanent part of this world'?" Komui demanded.

"Just get Johannes back. That is an order, Chief Lee."

"Perhaps I can shed some light on the situation, Chief Komui."

As usual, Bookman seemed to appear out of nowhere, striding from the general direction of the door that Lvellie and his company had left open. And ready to offer information that Komui wanted to hear. bristle

Almost warningly, spine straightening as he bristled, Lvellie said, "Bookman, sharing this information violates Central's strict confidentiality on this matter."

As much as he wanted to know, Komui was unsure of the repercussions of what Bookman was about to say. Cautiously, he asked, "Are you certain you're allowed to share such sensitive information with us, Bookman?"

Gravely, Bookman said, "It is necessary." Obviously, Lvellie couldn't stop the man because Bookman came to stand before Komui's desk and continued, "The Exiled Ones are a branch of the Bookman Clan that exist outside the flow of history. Existing not merely to record history but to prevent others from altering it. Their powers are so great that they are utterly feared. However they are also relied upon and revered. Star Johannes and the Finders who arrived with her are of the unorthodox echelon of Bookman.

"Central must not interfere in the task of this Exorcist and her Finders. Our world depends on it."

* * *

 **Author Notes** :  
 **Aside from those weird forked eyebrows, I like Howard Link's look in DMC Hallow. (Luckily I don't have to experience his eyebrows too often because his bangs cover them most of the time.) His ponytail makes me happy. The European style of dress along with his characteristic gentlemanly stoicism is ravishing. Makes me wonder what he's like in a romance, showing his emotions more. I wish I could have written him into this fanfic but he only has this one appearance/brief mention.**


	23. Cat & Mouse

_**Literally a bodice ripper. Sorry…not sorry. -Velvet**_

* * *

In the hotel suite Tyki so graciously left her in by herself, Star showered her bruised but healing body and half-changed into the gown he had left for her. She left the pretty gown itself on the bed but put on its undergarments. Not thirty minutes later, she was on the run, the chemise's petticoats swirling around her ankles and legs as she dashed down corridors, avoiding anyone who might see her. Looking for a safe yet unseen route out of the building and back to the Black Order.

 _I'll show you saucy, Noah._

The lower floor of the hotel that Star had run off to was dark and cold. Lamps dotting the ceiling every few feet cast eerie shadows over the storage area.

"Every entrance and exit in this place can't be covered by Akuma," Star muttered as she sprinted down a dim corridor line in sheet-covered hotel equipment, decorations, and furnitures. Tyki could be back any moment. She quickly followed any and every exit sign she came across. As she came to the next exit, a bulky Level 1 Akuma drifted forward from the darkness around the door, revealing its grotesque face and silently screaming mouth eternally frozen in agony.

Star backed away. The Level One stayed stationary at the door, its eyes perpetually peeled open in horror following her movements. With a curse, Star thought, _Not attacking. Obviously, Tyki told them to keep me here without deadly force._ The Noah was well-aware that she wasn't at 110% just yet. Turning around, she backtracked, determined to find some way out the Akuma had missed. Even if she could summon enough power in her still weakened state to destroy a few Akuma, she couldn't risk the lives of the people upstairs.

Halfway along the dark hall, Star stopped, facing a familiar figure dressed in a top hat, white gloves, and tailored formal wear.

Tyki.

His polished shoes snapped on the stone floor as he slowly and without a word walked towards her. More threatening than any Akuma.

 _Damn. That plan backfired sooner than expected._ Spur of the moment, Star turned and ran down the hall away from him.

But Tyki was faster. At the end of the hall, he caught her and shoved her into the wall.

Turning her around, Tyki gripped her throat in one hand, his hat vanished and his elegant black suit tails melted into the revealing and provocative white uniform the Noah wore when they weren't playing dress-up as members of European high society.

He eyed the buttons lining the bodice of her chemise.

"You dare try to escape. Defy me.

"Duh. I'm a prisoner," Star couldn't resist biting out while trying to pry his hand off her neck.

In that instant, Tyki's golden eyes flashed. He raised his hand and slammed it through her chest.

Star choked back her scream with a sharp, loud gasp. For a long second, neither of them moved. She was so stunned she didn't breathe or think. Having a man's hand in your chest wasn't a sensation she wanted to remember obviously. Was he really going to kill her like this? She looked into his eyes and saw that intense emotion from before had vanished, replaced by the unreadable stare of an impassive observer.

Then, very slowly, Tyki drew his hand out of her body. Expecting to see her heart in his hand, Star's gaze inched downward in horror.

The Noah's fingers caught the buttons of the chemise as they came out of her breast and ripped them free from their threads. In the silence, the buttons pinged dully to the floor.

Screeching at him, Star grabbed the edges of her open bodice and held them together.

"Tyki, you horrible little flirt!"

"You deserved that," he grabbed her again and shook her by the neck lightly like a rag doll. "Now how should I punish you…"

Star eyed him almost fearfully, pouting. "I'd say that was punishment enough unless you've decided to kill me."

His eyes narrowed. "I get to choose. Not you." Pulling her around by her scruff, Tyki guided her down the corridor and back toward the door that would take them upstairs.

"Akuma guarding the main exits. Was that necessary?"

"Says the prisoner who just tried to escape," Tyki scoffed.

"I was just sneaking off for a little fresh air. You know how it is."

"Sneaking off and escaping are the same thing."

"I didn't want them to alert you." _Them_ being the Akuma guards he'd put all over the hotel.

"Hence the sneaking which leads to the escaping."

Upstairs in the elegant suite, Tyki slammed the door shut. Letting go of the back of her neck, he turned and put his finger in her face.

"No more running away. No more escaping. Got it, girl?"

For now. Mahoja, Jump, Gaia—they were on the clock here. Star swept an exaggerated bow.

"Oh yes, Lord Tyki Mikk. Whatever you say."

Tyki glared at her before shoving her onto the bed. Star bounced for a second, set herself right on her back and elbows, then looked at his face. Trying to figure out what he was going to do next.

"You weren't too scared," he said, staring down at her.

Star shrugged. "When you put your hand inside my chest? Naw."

"Why?" he frowned.

"There's either a chance I can figure out a way to stop you from ripping out my heart or I can't. So why panic."

He got that crazed Noah look on his face and she did panic. Star panicked and cast a spell without thinking. Tyki fell onto the bed, unable to move.

"Ah-hah," she said as if she'd planned it like this. Scooting back on the bed and pulling her legs out from under Tyki, she poked his prone body.

Spells weren't really her specialty under pressure but she'd somehow managed to cast one.

"Girl, what did you do to me?" Tyki growled, his voice muffled as he was face-down in the expensive bedding.

"As a Bookman, I also know a few spells. Hah! Now who's the pet, Tyki-pon."

"I'll ask you not to call me that," Tyki mumbled.


	24. Heart Wants What It Wants

**Is it time to switch the rating back to M for Mature? What do you think? This is steamy to me but might not be to other people. -Velvet**

* * *

Pulling herself up beside Tyki, Star stared at the canopy above them. After she'd cast her spell, they'd lain there in the quiet, lavish suite on the mussed bed coverings without a word for some time.

"I hate that idea."

"What's that?" Tyki said.  
Star mused aloud, "'You can't help who you love'. It's stupid. In my own world…where I come from, I mean…I'm a very upright, moralistic person. It's a little liberating to do something I think is wrong."

"Like wanting me. A murderous Noah."

"Exactly."

"So you do admit it," he gave her a sidelong look.

Confirming or denying it was pointless so she didn't say anything. She wouldn't tell him that so directly.

Tyki sighed delicately. "A Noah and an Exorcist. It makes my skin crawl."

"Then why are you laying here with me."

Tyki's eyes widened.

"You could've left this bed two hours ago. I released you from my spell a while back."

He made a shocked, angry sound.

"Now don't look at me like that, Tyki," Star chided. "You are enjoying my company, admit it."

Pushing himself up and around the edge of the bed, Tyki rose in one lithe movement. Star winced, thinking he might be angry enough to teach her a more serious lesson this time. But he only walked over the table in the middle of the room.

Without looking over at her, he said, "Come here, girl."

Star did as he said tentatively. Stood a little away from at the side of the table.

"Here." Tyki slid something across the table to her.

As he removed his hand, Star looked down at a small, beautifully ornate box. Like something you'd find on a lady's dressing table.

"Go on," he prompted when she hesitated.

Star opened the box. The equally pretty ornate tube inside of the box wasn't lipstick. More like a moisturizer really. She picked it up and turned the little dial on the bottom of the tube. Raised it to her face. A sophisticated, attractive scent that wasn't overpowering yet it wasn't meek either. Star, drawing a breath at it's presentation alone, immediately wanted to put it on. Instead, she hid her surprise and longing by dipping her head and putting it back in its velvety groove in the pretty box Tyki had handed her.

"Smells flowery."

"Yes."

"And it's purple. And white."

"Yes."

"So. What is it? Oleander and Akuma virus?"

"No, actually." He cast her an exasperated, slightly offended look. "Don't be so disenchanted at your age." After a small pause, he said, "Your lips were chapped when you stubbornly refused food or water."

She couldn't look at him and resisted fidgeting under his gaze.

"They're not chapped anymore. I don't need this," she said, chasing the urge to petulantly mumble the words at him out of her voice.

"Indulge me."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to."

Star shook her head.

"But—"

"I saw it and I thought of you."

Going still, Star's eyes widened in surprise.

"Did you now?"

"I did." He watched her pass her fingers over the ornate box he'd chosen for her.

Without giving it anymore thought, Star reopened the box, plucked up the chic lip moisturizes, and removed its cap. She adjusted the level raising it out of its tube, and looked Tyki right in the eyes while she applied it to her lips. Tyki watched her mouth as she spread it on and pressed her lips to even it out. Recapping and putting it back in the box, she gave him her full attention again.

"Well. Aren't you going to do it," Star said.

Tyki stood there, still as statue, like she'd nailed him in the foot or something and he was too stunned to move.

"Do what?"

"Kiss me, Noah," Star said boldly.

Tyki looked at her wordlessly.

"What's wrong, Tyki Mikk? Huh? You afraid of my Exorcist cooties or something? My Innocence spit won't kill you." Unless I want it too.  
The Noah leaned down to her. He tilted Star's chin with gloved hand, raising her face to his. The rasp of his clothes. The warmth of his breath. Tyki's lips gently touched hers. He pulled away a few inches.

Opening her eyes, unaware she'd closed them, Star demanded—

"Kiss me in the mouth. Like you mean it." This time, he did, pressing himself to the front of her.

"How's that?" he said, one side of his mouth lifting in a challenging smile.

"Damn good." Star trembled and tried to keep the excitement and satisfaction coursing through her by countering with a question of her own. "How's it feel?" she asked.

"What?" Tyki frowned, staring at her lips like he was going to kiss her again.

"Mixing 'white' and 'black', Noah of Pleasure. You probably wouldn't have a problem with me at all if you were 'white' right now. But you're 'black' and I'm your enemy. Do you feel pleasure, being both at the same time?"

His response was to kiss her again. Very thoroughly.

Making out took them back to bed where Star had confessed that she wanted Tyki. Where Tyki hadn't exactly denied that he wanted her. They spent a good bit of time kissing and holding each other before dozing off in lazy comfort. Star slept with her fingers curled in his soft, full glossy hair. It was one of the hardest things to pull away from Tyki and leave him sleeping in the bed alone.

"You're really hot and you've got a super sexy body but while I'm here, I'm subject to some of the rules of your universe," she muttered." I don't want to become a Fallen One by accident or something unpleasant like that."

Star hesitated only a second. _I really hate to do this…_ Slipping out of bed like some accidental late night turned early morning encounter, she thought, _I'm not so different from your Eliade, am I, Krory. Who wanted to love you, even as an Akuma. And you, who wanted to love her even thought you were destined to be an Exorcist._


	25. Recovery

There was nothing the Noah could do to hold her permanently and Star did find her way back to the Order.

Star rushed speedily through the trees, having snagged some food to fuel her innocence on the way out of the hotel. Gaining just enough energy to make it this far. Ahead, the lights of the windows of the European Headquarters glinted.

It was a while before she got within transmitting range of Jump and Mahoja's golems. Gaia was perfect but their Order-issued golems couldn't transmit steadily at this distance, emitting crackling static and cutting out most of what they were saying.

"Star don't come…to Headquarters! Lvellie is—!"

She blacked out before she made sense of the broken radio feed coming through that she was hearing.

* * *

Consciousness dawned slowly.

Star blinked foggily and looked around. It took a minute but she soon realized she was back. Back in the spartan quarters she had been assigned at the Black Order.

Lenalee's pretty, smiling face filled her line of sight.

"You're awake."

"Hi," she mumbled, moaning.

"Your body was dragging itself face-down to the dining hall. Your stomach was growling the whole way. So loud people came out to see what all the noise was." Lenalee chuckled. "You were still unconscious, so it was a little disturbing. Your Innocence is something else. I've never seen Kro or Allen do that before. Though I've heard Allen's arm has acted on its own before."

Star blushed, giving a nervous laugh.

"Sorry about that. Yeah that must've been a sight…."

"Certainly scared some of the scientists on their way to lunch."

Just then, Star realized most of her clothes were gone.

"What must be disturbing to see someone naked who's so…you know…I mean, even Lavi said I'm not his type—"

Getting caught off guard like this was enough to make her crazy. Even though she was dizzy and shaking with the aching weakness of fatigue,

Star scrambled looking around looking for something to cover herself with.

Lenalee waved her hand.

"Oh forget Lavi. It's okay, Star. Don't be embarrassed. We're all girls here."

"You look much, much better, girlfriend," Mahoja said. "Thought you were at death's door. What did that Noah do to you?" Beneath her easy, relieved look, a hard seriousness said they needed to talk. ASAP.

Sighing, Star settled back into the bed and pillows, curling the sheets around her protectively. Thoughts of Tyki, even after everything he'd done, pinched her heart.

* * *

In the dining hall, several Exorcists talked about Star's return in low voices over their meals.

"Why are there guards and CROWs standing on Star's door?" Miranda said worriedly.

"There's something she's not telling us."

"Star was trying to explain everything before the Noah and those Akuma showed up," Allen said.

"Central is involved," Kanda said without a doubt.

At a nearby table, a few Finders from their mission were also talking.

"And did you see what her golem did…?" one of them whispered.

"It's insane. Golems don't have those kinds of abilities…"

The Exorcists fell silent for a moment.

"She spends a lot of time with Hevlaska," Kanda said pensively. A few people stared at him because the comment suggested he might actually be interested in what was going on. "That's what Lenalee said. Maybe Hevlaska knows what's going on with Star."


End file.
